SQ series · Two-axis · EO + IR + LRF + laser designator

SQ-330Q two-axis laser designator pod

A two-axis laser designator pod that packages EO (electro-optical), IR, LRF, laser designator into a 22 kg head measuring Φ330 × 420 mm. The largest pod we build — a 330 mm turret and 22 kg of payload capacity for heavy platforms.

Weight 22 kg
Two-axis stabilised
EO 1920 × 1080
Thermal Dual 640 × 512
LRF ≥ 15 km
AI detection & tracking

CE / RoHS documentation available on request
Export compliance statement available on request
Calibration and test report supplied with every unit

What the SQ-330Q is

The SQ-330Q is the heaviest pod in the range at 22 kg in a Φ330 × 420 mm turret, and the only one carrying two thermal channels. A fixed 300 mm core and a second zooming 15 to 330 mm both run 640 × 512, returning 6.7 km on a person and 22.7 km on a vehicle. The daylight side is a 30x group from 10 to 300 mm giving 10.6 km and 25 km, the laser is rated at 15 km or better, and designation runs at 1064 nm. Draw is 100 W cruising, 600 W at peak.

Two thermal channels, and the reason for the second

A fixed 300 mm core and a 15 to 330 mm zoom, side by side, both 640 × 512.

EO / visible

1920 × 1080, 30x zoom 10 – 300 mm

10.6 km person, 25 km vehicle.

Thermal / IR (zoom)

640 × 512, continuous zoom 15 – 330 mm

The search channel. 15 mm wide end, 330 mm long.

Thermal / IR (fixed)

640 × 512, 300 mm fixed

Held at one focal length. 6.7 km person, 22.7 km vehicle.

Laser rangefinder

≥ 15 km

1535 nm, eye-safe. A floor, not a band.

Laser designator

1064 nm

Marks a target already identified on an imaging path.

Why a pod needs two thermal cores

A single core zooming 15 to 330 mm travels a long way between search and recognition, and on a moving contact that travel costs time. Splitting the job removes it: the zoom searches, the fixed 300 mm core already sits at the long end, and the operator switches channel rather than waiting for a barrel. The cost is mass, and 22 kg is where it lands.

Daylight EO imagery from a HITS camera payload with vehicles detected and boxed automatically — EO / visible channel: vehicles detected and boxed automatically in the live feed.

Ten to three hundred millimetres in daylight

Thirty times across 10 to 300 mm: 10 mm frames a valley or a harbour approach, 300 mm reads a vehicle at 25 km. The zoom travels continuously, so the operator picks a frame rather than changing lenses, and 10.6 km is what the optic returns on a body instead of a hull.

Thermal imagery from a HITS camera payload with a target held by the onboard tracker — Thermal channel: white-hot imagery with the tracker holding a moving target.

A 15 km laser, stated as a floor

The sheet gives ≥ 15 km rather than a band, which reads literally: a guaranteed minimum, not a ceiling. It is also the only figure here stated that way, and the lowest number on the sheet, behind 22.7 km of thermal and 25 km of daylight detection. A contact at the edge of the imaging envelope therefore sits outside the ranging envelope until the aircraft closes.

HITS ground station showing UAV payload video with target coordinates — Ground station: payload video with live target coordinates and sensor status.

The one gap in the chain is the laser: 15 km of measurement behind 25 km of daylight detection.

Stabilisation and mechanical design

Twenty-two kilograms is the design case

Yaw and pitch are the stabilised axes, and the rest of the mount follows from the mass they arrest. Two thermal cores, a 300 mm daylight barrel and the laser bench sit in one 22 kg housing, and that inertia is what the loops are drawn against. Feedback runs at the joint, the drive is direct, and line-of-sight error stays inside ≤ 100 μrad (1σ) with ≥ 60°/s available.

Φ330 × 420 mm, and 600 W to find

The turret measures Φ330 × 420 mm and takes 11–28 VDC. Cruise is 100 W; peak is 600 W, arriving when the designator, the ranging laser and both cores work at once. On a platform this size the electrical design is the longer conversation, and 600 W is where it starts.

Detection and tracking at the edge

One classifier behind five apertures

Whichever channel is live, the same on-board module separates people, vehicles, vessels and aircraft. Nothing goes to a ground processor, which matters at the outer edge of this envelope: the further the aircraft works, the less the downlink can be trusted, and a box decided before compression arrives regardless.

Moving the lock between apertures

Twenty targets can be held with one under active lock, and the tracker carries that lock through a channel change as well as rotation, scale change and occlusion. That is the working reason for the second core: a contact on the zoom can be handed to the fixed 300 mm view without dropping the lock and finding it again.

Installing a twenty-two kilogram turret

22 kg and 600 W. Neither is a payload swap, and both are airframe decisions.

Hard point and structure

At 22 kg the airframe is drawn around the pod rather than adapted to it. An isolated base takes the quick-release face and adapter plates cover a foreign bolt circle, but the bracket is primary structure at this mass. Elasticity anywhere in that path becomes boresight wander at the far end of a 15 km measurement.

Supply, data and sealing

Eleven to 28 VDC in, with 600 W to provide at peak. Commands travel over RS-422, RS-232 or TTL, and an autopilot speaking SBUS or MAVLink can address the gimbal directly. Imagery is H.264 or H.265 on 100 Mbps Ethernet into 128 GB internally, and the housing is sealed for dust and rotor wash across −20 °C to +60 °C working and −40 °C to +70 °C stored. The technology pages document that layer.

On the aircraft

Turret, harness and operator station. The hard point is part of the aircraft, not an accessory bolted to it.

At this size the first document is a drawing rather than a protocol note: outline and pinout for the airframe review, then calibration record and test report with the hardware. All of it is export-reviewed.

Where the SQ-330Q is used

Three roles for a heavy platform that works at standoff.

Maritime patrol and border watch
A 22 kg turret goes on a maritime aircraft because that aircraft has the hard point and the generator. The 300 mm fixed core returns 22.7 km on a vehicle-sized contact without waiting for a zoom to travel, the 330 mm end of the second core closes on it, and the laser fixes the position for an intercept already under way.
UAV surveillance →
Long-range identification from standoff
Twenty-five kilometres of daylight vehicle detection only makes sense if the aircraft never intends to come close. The 10 to 300 mm optic reads a vehicle at that range, both thermal channels cover the scene after dark, and the aircraft orbits outside anything it watches. The 15 km laser sets how far into it a position can be measured.
Long-range imaging →
Heavy unmanned helicopter ISR
A rotorcraft with 22 kg of margin and a generator behind it is the natural platform. Two cores and a 300 mm daylight end let an operator work a scene at distance from a hover, and the designator turns a contact into something a crew already airborne can act on without a coordinate read over the radio.
Drone helicopter cameras →

Full specifications

Model	SQ-330Q
Series	Laser Designator Pods (SQ series)
Stabilisation	Two-axis gyro-stabilised, ≤ 100 μrad
Sensor configuration	EO + IR + LRF + laser designator
Visible channel	1920 × 1080, 30x zoom 10 – 300 mm
Thermal channel	Dual 640 × 512, 300 mm + continuous zoom 15 – 330 mm
Laser rangefinder	≥ 15 km
Weight	≤22 kg
Dimensions	≤Φ330 × 420 mm
Power consumption	100 W / 600 W
Detection (EO)	10.6 km person / 25 km vehicle
Detection (IR)	6.7 km person / 22.7 km vehicle

Detection distances follow the standard 1.7 m person / 2.3 m vehicle convention. Rows marked as shared are common across the SQ series.

Control software: Windows as standard. An Android version can be customised for OEM/ODM projects.

Shared across the SQ series

Video output: Ethernet, H.264 / H.265
Gimbal control: RS-422 / RS-232 / TTL, SBUS, MAVLink
Input voltage: 11–28 VDC
Operating temperature: −20 °C to +60 °C
Sealing: Sealed housing for dust, wind and rotor wash
Recording: On-board recording, imagery retained if the link drops
AI module: Onboard detection, classification and multi-target tracking. How target tracking technology works.
Mounting: Quick-release interface, adapters available for OEM (original equipment manufacturer) airframes

Three-view outline drawing with connector pinout, available on request.

Outline and interface drawingThree-view outline with dimensions and the connector pinout for this head. The drawing set is released with the datasheet — ask for it with your quotation and we will send the PDF for your airframe review.

Questions engineers ask about the SQ-330Q

How far does the SQ-330Q detect a person or a vehicle?

Daylight gives 10.6 km on a person and 25 km on a vehicle; either thermal channel gives 6.7 km and 22.7 km. Both assume 1.7 m and 2.3 m targets and both are detection only, so recognition and identification sit closer in.

What are the order terms and the delivery time?

Catalogue configuration from one unit, custom from 100. Shelf stock goes out as it stands, making the interval a transport question; bespoke and volume runs are dated in the quotation. T/T, twelve months of warranty.

Why carry two thermal cores instead of one zooming core?

To remove the travel. A single core zooming 15 to 330 mm spends time moving between the search frame and the recognition frame, and a moving contact does not wait for it. With a fixed 300 mm core alongside, the operator switches channels and the long view is already there. The cost is 22 kg and 600 W at peak.

The laser is listed as ≥ 15 km while the optics reach 25 km. What happens in between?

Detection runs past the ranging envelope. A vehicle can be picked up at 25 km in daylight or 22.7 km on thermal, but a position needs a return, and the sheet states the rangefinder as 15 km or better rather than as a range with a top end. Inside that band the laser gives a coordinate at ± 1 m; outside it, the aircraft has to close before a measurement exists.

Designed and manufactured by HITS

Optics, servo hardware, stabilisation firmware and the AI tracking module are developed in house, and every unit is assembled, calibrated and environmentally tested on our own line before it ships.

HITS engineer testing a stabilised gimbal camera payload on the test bench before dispatch

Production line assembling stabilised gimbal camera payloads at the HITS factory

Engineer assembling the internal components of a HITS stabilised gimbal camera payload

Gimbal payloads on the calibration and environmental test rack at the HITS factory

Next steps for this payload: how it is inspected and tested · export licensing and documentation · ordering and integration FAQ

Request a quotation for the SQ-330Q

Tell us the platform, the range you need to identify and how many units you are planning. Every configuration is quoted individually, so you get a written price against your own requirement rather than a list figure that does not fit it. We answer within one working day.

MOQFrom 1 unit

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