Hood River, OR, United States, June 24, 2015 -- Award-winning British Naval Air Squadron 700X used “undetected” Hood Tech Vision imagers to reel in nearly 100 million British Pounds worth of heroin weighing nearly a ton.

From: Hood Tech Corp Vision, Inc., Hood River, Oregon
Date: June 23, 2015
Subject: Ho Hum! Another Use of Hood Tech Vision Imagers, Another Ton of Heroin, Another Successful Interdiction, Another $100 Million Kept Off the Streets!
Contact: Dr. Andy von Flotow, Hood Tech Corp Vision, Inc., 541-387-2288, [email protected]

A British publication (http://www.westbriton.co.uk/Ton-heroin-worth-98-million-seized-help-drones/story-26722282-detail/story.html) reports that successful use of Hood Tech Vision imagers, operating far enough above smugglers to be unnoticed by them, led to the capture of nearly a ton of heroin worth some 98 million British Pounds in street value. The award-winning 700X Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy, credited their Hood Tech Vision sensors and the drone carrying them, for the success of “Combined Task Force 150”, according to the article. “This is getting to be almost pleasantly routine”, said a Hood Tech Vision representative. “Somali pirates, contraband, drugs--we’ve helped watch them all while staying unnoticed by the bad guys.” The Combined Task Force carried “out counter-terrorism and drug-smuggling patrols, then pounced as the vessels headed for Tanzania”.

When Hood Tech began producing 800-gm video-camera turrets in 1998, it enabled an entirely new class of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Hood Technology Vision now designs and manufactures imaging and video processing systems at the highest level of the National Imagery Interpretability Rating Scale (NIIRS): Level 9. Hood Tech Vision matches embedded stabilization technology with electro-optical lenses that zoom up to 200X. This results in a field of view of 0.3 degrees, in payloads that weigh from less than one to six kg. Hood Tech Vision imagers consume as little as one-fifth the power common for such systems, increasing the power budget available to other sensors for Multi-INT missions. Designed for manned and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), boats, land vehicles, and towed and stationary mounts, the reliability and utility of Hood Tech’s daylight and thermal imaging products has been demonstrated during more than 900,000 hours of use in a variety of temperatures, humidity, dust, smoke, haze, and other environmental factors (http://www.hoodtechvision.com).

Dr. Andy von Flotow founded Hood Technology in Hood River, Oregon in 1993. Along with the design and manufacture of stabilized imaging systems, Hood Tech:

-Develops, tests, and manufactures launch and retrieval systems for UAVs
-Operates controlled launch and quiet wind tunnel test facilities
-Monitors blade vibrations in industrial turbines and jet engines, including diagnostic methods that predict possible future turbine failures.

The Hood Tech web site is: www.hoodtech.com

Contact:
Andy von Flotow
Hood Technology
1750 Country Club Rd.
Hood River, OR 97031
541-387-2288
[email protected]
http://www.hoodtech.com