Constant Hawk
{{Short description|US Army wide-area motion imagery system}}
Constant Hawk is a United States Army wide-area motion imagery system flown on crewed reconnaissance aircraft in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Constant Hawk was the first airborne Wide Area Persistent Sensor developed and deployed by the United States. It flew over 66 thousand flight hours in Iraq on five aircraft and is directly and indirectly credited with producing the intelligence data that dramatically reduced IED production and deployment.
Like similar wide-area surveillance systems, such as Gorgon Stare, ARGUS-IS or the aerostat-mounted Kestrel, Constant Hawk was designed to give operators a fuller view of an area (such as a battlefield or operating base) than they would normally get from standard full-motion video cameras.
The Army first deployed Constant Hawk in 2006 as part of a Quick Reaction Capability to help combat enemy ambushes and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Afghanistan and Iraq.{{cite web|last=Buxbaum|first=Peter|title=The Eyes Have It|url=http://www.tactical-isr-technology.com/tisr-home/372-tisr-2011-volume-1-issue-5-december/5063-the-eyes-have-it.html|publisher=Tactical ISR Technology|accessdate=18 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304044740/http://www.tactical-isr-technology.com/tisr-home/372-tisr-2011-volume-1-issue-5-december/5063-the-eyes-have-it.html|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Constant Hawk|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/systems/constant-hawk.htm|publisher=GlobalSecurity.org|accessdate=18 May 2012}}{{cite web|title=Night Eyes for the Constant Hawk: Opening the night for Counter-IED Surveillance|url=http://defense-update.com/features/2009/sept/1709009_awapss.html|publisher=Defense Update|accessdate=18 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120513065022/http://www.defense-update.com/features/2009/sept/1709009_awapss.html|archive-date=13 May 2012|url-status=dead}}
Constant Hawk flew on Short 360-300s in Iraq under the command of Task Force ODIN. The system was introduced to Afghanistan in 2009, where it is still in use aboard MC-12W Liberty aircraft.{{cite web|title=Walking Back the Cat: The US Army’s Constant Hawk|url=http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/Walking-Back-the-Cat-The-US-Armys-Constant-Hawk-06832/|publisher=Defense Industry Daily|accessdate=18 May 2012}}
Development
Initial work on Constant Hawk began in the early 2000s (decade) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as part of the Sonoma Persistent Surveillance Program, a U.S. Department of Energy effort to monitor nuclear proliferation.{{cite web|last=Harrison|first=Jay|title=Where did Constant Hawk come from?|url=http://edgefighter.com/2010/08/27/where-did-constant-hawk-come-from/|publisher=Edgefighter|accessdate=18 May 2012}}{{cite web|last=Heller|first=Arnie|title=From Video to Knowledge|url=https://str.llnl.gov/AprMay11/pdfs/4.11.1.pdf|publisher=Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory|accessdate=18 May 2012}}
In 2005, Constant Hawk was passed to the U.S. Department of Defense, which led to its development under the Army Research Laboratory in Aberdeen, MD. {{cite web |last1=Defense Industry Daily Staff |title=US Army Awards Top 10 Inventions of 2006 |url=https://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/us-army-awards-top-10-inventions-of-2006-03378/ |website=Defense Industry Daily |accessdate=5 June 2018}}
Since 2005, MIT has been developing processing algorithms enabling efficient formation, exploitation and dissemination of Constant Hawk imagery.
In 2009, BAE Systems provided an additional, infrared payload for Constant Hawk called the Airborne Wide Area Persistent Surveillance Sensor (AWAPSS).
In 2013, the MIT sensor MASIVS was deployed by Constant Hawk increasing pixel counts by an order of magnitude and providing full color imagery processed in real-time on board the aircraft.
Features
Constant Hawk includes a 96-megapixel camera as part of its sensor suite and software that detects changes and patterns in collected imagery.{{cite web|title=Constant Hawk Delivers|url=http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htintel/20070622.aspx|publisher=Strategy Page|accessdate=18 May 2012}}
This allows intelligence analysts to detect roadside bombs and prepared ambushes.
Upgrades and Similar Systems
In 2007, the U.S. Marine Corps developed an upgrade to Constant Hawk called Angel Fire.{{cite web|last=Hoffmann|first=Michael|title=New Reaper Sensors Offer a Bigger Picture|url=http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/02/airforce_WAAS_021609/|publisher=Air Force Times|accessdate=29 May 2012}} In 2011, a Constant Hawk spinoff called Kestrel began deployment on aerostats in Afghanistan.
Additionally, many of Constant Hawk's capabilities have been miniaturized or improved in newer wide-area persistent surveillance systems such as Logos Technologies' Kestrel. Kestrel reduces size and weight, while increasing image resolution and adding a day/night surveillance capability.{{cite web|last=Magnuson|first=Stew|title=Wide Area Surveillance Sensors Prove Value on Battlefields|url=http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2012/November/Pages/WideAreaSurveillanceSensorsProveValueonBattlefields.aspx|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131217190755/http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2012/November/Pages/WideAreaSurveillanceSensorsProveValueonBattlefields.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 December 2013|publisher=National Defense Magazine|accessdate=17 December 2013}}{{cite web|last=Colucci|first=Frank|title=Persistence On Patrol|url=http://www.aviationtoday.com/av/issue/feature/Persistence-On-Patrol_79069.html#.UrCz4GRDuyN|publisher=Avionics Magazine|accessdate=17 December 2013}}
In addition, the U.S. Air Force is working on Gorgon Stare, a wide-area persistence surveillance system designed for the MQ-9 Reaper. Gorgon Stare was initially scheduled for deployment in 2010.{{cite web|last=Putrich|first=Gayle|title=Gorgon Stare tests reveal long list of problems|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/gorgon-stare-tests-reveal-long-list-of-problems-352261/|publisher=Flightglobal.com|accessdate=29 May 2012}}
Another system still in development by DARPA is ARGUS-IS.{{cite web|title=Autonomous Real-time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance-Imaging System (ARGUS-IS)|url=http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/I2O/Programs/Autonomous_Real-time_Ground_Ubiquitous_Surveillance-Imaging_System_%28ARGUS-IS%29.aspx|publisher=Information Innovation Office, DARPA|accessdate=29 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120804155030/http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/I2O/Programs/Autonomous_Real-time_Ground_Ubiquitous_Surveillance-Imaging_System_(ARGUS-IS).aspx|archive-date=4 August 2012|url-status=dead}}