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Latest Issue
Mar 2018

UAVs Support Defense, Security Advances

JUSTINE MURPHY, SENIOR EDITOR, justine.murphy@photonics.com
The modern defense and security industry is advancing as rapidly as the technology that supports it.

The military is employing surveillance tools such as drones in situations where covertness is crucial. The French have plans to arm drones — something that is already in place or in the planning stages in numerous other European countries — as supporting technologies such as sensors continue to advance. Specifically, this includes six of France’s existing Reaper surveillance drones that are currently based in Africa’s Sahel region and being used in the fight against Islamic extremists. According to information from the Associated Press, the French military has not yet announced weaponry specifics or timeframes for deployment.

As the frequency and destructiveness of terrorist attacks increase worldwide, drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are playing an important role in complex military situations. These technologies are featuring more compact sensors and advanced imaging components and finding application in military operations as well as in natural disaster risk assessment and preparedness.

In our cover story, Contributing Editor Marie Freebody delves into the realm of UAVs and their surveillance, sensing and imaging capacities, as well as their impact on modern warfare and homeland security and what the future holds for such technology (read article).

Also in this issue:

• Henrik Fabricius, CTO of Delta Optical Thin Film A/S, and Oliver Pust, the company’s director of sales and marketing, discuss how optical continuously variable bandpass filters are aiding hyperspectral imaging techniques, in turn making them more appealing to large markets (read article).

• Arnaud Rigny, business development manager at Soitec, offers an in-depth look at silicon photonics and its potential for better data connectivity (read article).

• We highlight the 2018 winners of the Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation, sponsored by SPIE and Photonics Media and revealed during a ceremony at Photonics West 2018 in San Francisco (read article).

Enjoy the issue!