The US Air Force (USAF) has awarded a contract to Raytheon to produce the first airborne cueing and exploitation system hyperspectral (ACES HY) sensor system.

ACES HY is an infrared tactical sensor system developed to identify targets based on their spectral characteristics.

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The sensor system was successfully flight-tested on a manned twin otter aircraft used as a surrogate for the MQ-1 Predator unmanned system in September 2010.

The ACES HY programme is managed by the USAF Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright Patterson Air Force Base and Raytheon is the prime systems integrator.

The company has teamed with L3 Integrated Optical Systems and Space Computer Corporation for the programme.

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