Kestrel supports Australian Army in Afghanistan

Sentient has announced it will provide additional Kestrel Land MTI licenses in support of the Australian Army's Shadow Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) operations in Afghanistan.

Kestrel Land MTI is a software solution that automatically detects and tracks movement in electro-optical (EO) and infrared (IR) airborne full motion video.

Actively deployed alongside the first Shadow 200 system in Afghanistan, the software processes the video imagery captured by the TUAS and automatically alerts ISTAR operators to small, moving targets such as dismounts and vehicles on the ground.

By visually detecting and tracking any movement, the software allows them to rapidly uncover targets of interest.

The ability to assess the Shadow’s ISTAR imagery in real time, thus having a direct understanding of the situation on the ground and therefore being able to respond to potential threats immediately is key.

Kestrel Land MTI is operated by the 20th Surveillance and Target Acquisition (STA) Regiment.

The additional software licenses are initially used for training purposes. 

"Kestrel automated target detection is now an integral part of the ISTAR process and an important part of extracting additional capability from the Shadow system", Simon Olsen of Sentient said.