Israeli Technology will Enhance Situational Awareness in Urban Warfare

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In urban areas, where the force team faces hidden threats, there is a need to have a complete picture even with closed hatches. A situational awareness system designed for use by combat teams in closed-hatched vehicles in hostile environments has been sported recently.

The OCTOPUS 360 was developed by Computech International, CTI – an Israeli company specializing in advanced, unique military IT and communication solutions for the harshest conditions.

The software provides a complete, 360-degree, in-motion visual solution to the soldiers in the armored combat vehicle, performing real-time stitching of video generated by cameras and advanced sensors. The system supports multiple monitors to create a full-view, real-world picture and has Picture-in-Picture capabilities which display real-time data from various sensors, telemetry streams, markers and graphics sources. It also supports different camera formats and sources, including HD-SDI, GigE Vision, HDMI, IP stream and more.

According to the company announcement, the system offers real-time recording and off-line playback for debriefing and simulation. VR or AR glasses can be connected to improve user experience, and multiple display modes are available to support users with different operational requirements.

Finally, OCTOPUS 360 comes with real-time object detection and marking with dynamic tracking, compression and image transmission which enable remote monitoring.

“We developed the system in response to the defense needs of active combat units using closed-hatched armored vehicles,” says Udi Kauf, CEO of CTI. “The system, which saves lives, can be installed on any platform, from light to heavy vehicles, working in-sync with the vehicle’s existing electronic systems to provide combat squads with a complete, real-time situational awareness picture, even when they are on the move.”