Hensoldt South Africa has launched its new Bushbaby 200 long range electro-optical system for ground-based applications.
The Bushbaby 200 was officially unveiled at the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) 2024 exhibition. With the ability to rotate 360 degrees and an elevation range of -45 degrees to +96 degrees, the Bushbaby 200 system offers the operator the ability to view any potential threat in the distance and by using the laser range finder, identify the range of that threat, as well as the coordinates of it thanks to an internal global navigation satellite system (GNSS).
The system has the ability to be both static and portable, allowing it to function in many different situations. It was designed to be used in border surveillance but can be used in many other roles like force protection, targeting and reconnaissance and also by a forward observer.
Image stabilisation is in the form of a gyro-stabilised 2-axis system that works in conjunction with the image processor to allow clear images at very long distances. The thermal imaging capabilities allow it to be used in a long range observational and situational awareness capacity in all conditions, day or night. It even has the ability to fuse infrared and daylight imaging into a single video stream (video can be recorded).
The Bushbaby 200 is a completely new system, not simply an upgrade from the smaller Bushbaby 100 that Hensoldt South Africa launched in Saudi Arabia in February this year – that is a short to medium distance optical system that has a specific function of its own.
Hensoldt South Africa Head of Sales, Sunette van Rensburg, confirmed the Bushbaby 200 is a completely new system with different capabilities. She said that the Bushbaby 200 features a South African designed Kenis thermal imager which is the same one used in the company’s Argos-15 airborne surveillance and targeting system.
According to Hensoldt South Africa, the daylight electro-optical camera can detect larger objects like vehicles at 36.7 km, recognise them at 29 km, and identify them at 24 km. It can detect a human at over 25 km away and identify that individual at over 13 km away. The laser rangefinder has a range of 30 km with an accuracy of roughly 3 metres. The system is able to geolocate objects and record object date and imagery.
“We’re moving out of a pure military market with some of these products into a bit more parastatal security. We’re not going to focus with these products solely on military end-users but rather critical infrastructure protection, airfield and sea port protection, military and force protection, national key point monitoring, coastal and maritime surveillance, and border patrol,” Hensoldt South Africa’s Leon Potgieter said.
The original Bushbaby was launched in 2020 as a land-based long-range imaging system for persistent surveillance, allowing the operator to identify and track intrusions, smugglers, terrorists, drones or any other conventional or asymmetric threat.
The Bushbaby is non-ITAR, like the majority of Hensoldt South Africa’s products. The system’s modular design allows easy customisation and upgrades with additional sensors, with envisioned integration with radar, artificial intelligence, radio frequency, and signals intelligence.
It complements the company’s other surveillance capabilities, including radar and electro-optical sensors. Hensoldt South Africa’s combined radar and electro-optical surveillance system is, for example, protecting nearly two thousand rhinos in the world’s largest rhino conservancy.
One of Hensoldt’s key portfolio areas is border security solutions, with Hensoldt South Africa having the vision to be the main turnkey solution provider for border authorities.
