Overview

Ball Aerospace’s Low Light Level Television Camera (LLLTV) is the key component of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) SeaSparrow Missile System.

The SeaSparrow missile’s low light level camera system supports day and night imaging during search, surveillance, target identification, fire control and navigational guidance.

The SeaSparrow Missile System evolved from the efforts of four NATO countries who formed a consortium to develop and produce a state-of-the-art naval missile defense system for the free world’s naval entities.

Our Role

Located aboard U.S. naval warships and several allied ships, the surface-to-air missile’s low light level camera built by Ball Aerospace is extremely rugged, withstanding the toughest environmental challenges, including severe electromagnetic and marine conditions.

The camera features two sensors based on charge-coupled devices, a monitor, and other support components. Additional features of the multi-capable system include:

• Maintains high reliability and rapid repair
• Offers two fields of view and a wide interscene dynamic range
• Enables remote operation
• Uses automatic light control and automatic gain control
• Consists of built-in test equipment for quick fault isolation

The SeaSparrow camera is currently deployed for surface-to-air anti-missile defense onboard naval carriers. SeaSparrow is Ball Aerospace’s longest-running program. With more than 40 years of experience designing and producing robust military cameras, Ball Aerospace has a variety of full MIL-Spec and derivative cameras available to meet military, paramilitary, and other specialized mission requirements.