In the latest string of White House security breaches, on Monday of this week, a "quadcopter" or 4-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle flew over and then crash-landed on the south grounds of the White House without triggering any security alarms. In fact, the UAV managed to stealthily fly unnoticed by any system in place and wasn't detected until a Secret Service agent spotted it before the UAV hurtled to the ground, prompting a lockdown before the area could be deemed safe.

The Spynel cameras from HGH Infrared Systems are specially equipped to detect these types of threats using high-resolution infrared thermal imaging technology that can pick up low heat deltas between ambient temperatures and the electric engine UAVs, as well as low-speed flying objects. Spynel's constantly moving, 360-degree camera head takes a panoramic image of an entire wide area and built- in advanced algorithms can automatically detect and track an unlimited number of air, land, and maritime targets including large thermal engine UAVs up to 11 km away. Unlike radars, Spynel are also completely passive. Spynel systems have previously been deployed in Afghanistan for forward operating base protection and are mature commercial off-the-shelf systems that were developed more than 10 years ago.

Security measures especially around our nation's historic landmarks such as the White House, critical infrastructures like nuclear plants or high-traffic areas at airports and ports may wish to consider more cutting-edge solutions in order to detect highly challenging threats such as small UAVs early on before irreversible damage to structures or people can be done.

About HGH Infrared Systems

Founded in 1982, HGH designs, develops, assembles, and sells complete high-end optronics systems for security, industrial, and civil applications. HGH's team of highly qualified engineers is comprised of experts in optics, software, mechanics, and electronics and operates in the U.S. out of Boston, Mass.