[SatNews] Vislink, the leading global technology provider specializing in the collection, management and delivery of high quality video and associated data, today announced its real-time airborne downlink (ADL) equipment is being deployed by law enforcement agencies throughout the U.K. as part of a Home Office project to boost surveillance capabilities and enable accurate and timely decision making.
Vislink has been selected to fit 15 aircraft with new integrated video downlink systems capable of transmitting live images from airborne assets to multiple receive sites. During joint operations, regional forces and national agencies will be able to access ADL images transmitted from aircraft using portable and handheld equipment, and also at regional command and control centers throughout the UK.
Vislink’s airborne downlink equipment has been a key part of the Metropolitan Police Service since 2006 and is already in operational use across the U.K. With high quality output and H.264 encoding this new equipment greatly improves transfer speeds compared to traditional analogue systems and will increase situational awareness at all levels.
“The Metropolitan Police Service is delighted to have benefited from the ADL upgrade project,” said Inspector Richard Brandon, Executive Officer, Metropolitan Police Air Support Unit. “The ADL project has delivered significant improvements to an already excellent Vislink system used by the Met for many years. Improvements have been noticeable in terms of picture quality and stability, transmission range and security encryption. The new ADL system also lets us operate throughout the U.K., and we have already demonstrated the benefits of this interoperability during a recent multi-agency operation.”
Tony Price, ADL Project Manager at Vislink, added: “The Home Office contract is a huge milestone for Vislink. As the latest in a long line of successful deployments with police forces across world, the implementation of this project demonstrates how Vislink has transferred its recognized expertise from the broadcast sector into the surveillance and public safety markets.”
Vislink’s ADL equipment has been deployed in fixed locations across several regions in the U.K. All remaining equipment will be delivered by the end of this year, with the project expected to complete in March 2015.
