Bird demos OSCAR maritime data fusion system in Africa

Bird Aerosystems, an Israeli company that develops special-mission aircraft solutions and airborne missile protection systems, announced on 14 January that it had completed a successful trial of its Ocean Surveillance Control and Reconnaissance (OSCAR) solution for an African client it did not identify.

An image released by Bird Aerospace shows the interface of its Ocean Surveillance Control and Reconnaissance (OSCAR) system. (Bird Aerospace)

“The successful trial and the OSCAR solution’s unique capabilities will be presented during the upcoming Africa Maritime Security Forum in Senegal,” the company said in a statement.

Bird said that OSCAR applied “machine-learning algorithms on real-time maritime data sources” that included satellite and terrestrial AIS information, costal radar, electro-optical (EO) and radar satellite imagery, and tactical sensors. This enabled it to “detect, analyse and prioritise suspicious vessels while providing automatic intelligence and threat assessments and alerts of any suspicious or illegal activity detected”, it said.

This enabled the customer to focus its resources on the vessels OSCAR flagged as suspicious.

A company source told Jane’s that OSCAR enables users to “tailor the required operations to combat these threats with the support of the customer’s surface and air assets, achieving improved operational efficiency along with major cost savings”.

Bird has identified a strong interest from operators of its Airborne Surveillance, Information, and Observation (ASIO) solution who “fully understand how the system enables them to find the needle in the haystack”, the source said.

This article, first published on 24 January 2020, is subject to a correction and has been amended.