XQ series · Two-axis · EO + IR + LRF

XQ-170TC two-axis EO/IR pod with 5 km LRF

1280 × 1024 thermal on a 75 mm lens — the long-range imaging workhorse of the pod range. The complete payload weighs 2.8 kg and measures Φ170 × 231.3 mm, so it fits long-endurance fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and heavy multirotors.

Weight 2.8 kg
Two-axis stabilised
EO 1920 × 1080
Thermal 1280 × 1024
LRF 50 m – 5 km (± 1 m)
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 XQ-170TC is

The XQ-170TC puts resolution ahead of reach on the night channel. Its thermal detector is 1280 × 1024 behind a 75 mm lens, so the picture stays legible when the operator pushes into a contact instead of dissolving into blocks. The daylight optic is a 30x group, the laser covers 50 m – 5 km, and the assembly weighs 2.8 kg in a Φ170 × 231.3 mm envelope. Buyers who already have enough night range and want a thermal image they can read closely choose this head rather than a longer lens on a smaller detector.

A megapixel thermal channel, and what it is for

A megapixel detector on a lens long enough to use every pixel of it.

EO / visible

1920 × 1080, 30x zoom 4.3 – 129 mm

Same 30x group as the lighter pods, doing the daylight work this model was not bought for.

Thermal / IR

1280 × 1024, 75 mm fixed

2 km on a person and 7 km on a vehicle, with pixels left over at that range.

Laser rangefinder

50 m – 5 km (± 1 m)

Eye-safe 1535 nm, so a night contact arrives as a position, not a bearing.

What a megapixel detector changes about the picture

When the target occupies a small part of the frame, silhouettes keep their edges and a vehicle keeps its shape. Detection runs to 2 km on a person and 7 km on a vehicle, and the extra pixels make the nearer part of that range readable.

Daylight EO imagery from a HITS camera payload with vehicles detected and boxed automatically — Daylight channel, 30x, with vehicle boxes produced on the payload.

Seventy-five millimetres is a match, not a maximum

The lens puts the detector’s pixels to work rather than chasing a distance. A 1280 × 1024 core behind 75 mm holds a usable search field while resolving a figure at 2 km, and NETD ≤ 40 mK stops the low-contrast parts of the scene flattening.

Thermal imagery from a HITS camera payload with a target held by the onboard tracker — Thermal at 1280 × 1024 on the 75 mm optic: edges and gradients, not just hot spots.

Boresight, so a channel switch is free

Both channels share a line of sight and the laser sits on it. A contact found on thermal at 2 km switches to the zoom and ranges without being hunted for again.

HITS ground station showing UAV payload video with target coordinates — Ground station: video from either channel, plus the laser coordinate beside it.

Specify this pod when the night image has to be identifiable and the mass budget is around three kilograms. Its neighbour with the 55 mm lens reaches a similar distance on fewer pixels; the difference shows once the target is found.

Stabilisation and mechanical design

Two axes, encoded at the joint

Pitch and yaw are brushless and direct-drive, and the encoder reads position at the axis, so the loop sees the optics rather than a motor shaft behind a reduction. The sight line holds ≤ 100 μrad (1σ) at ≥ 60°/s, which is the margin that keeps a 1280 × 1024 image from smearing in turbulence.

2.8 kg in Φ170 × 231.3 mm

The head weighs 2.8 kg and measures Φ170 × 231.3 mm, drawing 30 W with 100 W at peak on 11–28 VDC. The peak is the number to size the aircraft bus against where payload and propulsion share one pack.

Detection and tracking at the edge

A megapixel feed the module can use

Detection, classification and tracking are computed on the payload, and a 1280 × 1024 thermal channel gives the classifier more to work with. The effect is fewer boxes that appear and vanish, and a lock that holds a partly occluded target.

What the operator is left to do

Up to 20 targets can be held while one is worked. The crew decides which marked contact matters and what to do about the one under the lock, rather than steering a crosshair for the length of an orbit.

Bringing a 2.8 kg head onto the aircraft

The airframe-side questions are volume, current and what the night image feeds into.

Physical fit

A quick-release mount on an isolated base, with plates for a different bolt circle. At 2.8 kg and Φ170 × 231.3 mm it fits the same class of hardpoint as the lighter pods, so an aircraft already carrying one usually takes this without structural work. Watch the moment arm once the bracket is drawn: a long bracket amplifies a modest mass.

Signal chain and environment

Budget the aircraft bus for a 100 W peak rather than the 30 W the pod sits at most of the time. The interfaces themselves are the standard range set, so an autopilot already talking to another XQ head needs no new driver: SBUS and MAVLink on the control side, H.264 or H.265 video over Ethernet, 128 GB recording locally. Environmental limits are −20 °C to +60 °C operating, −40 °C to +70 °C stored, sealed. Full list on the technology pages.

On the aircraft

2.8 kg on the hardpoint: bracket, harness and operator station, no bespoke mount.

Documentation set: the control protocol, how the video pipeline is arranged, a three-view outline with the connector pinout, and the calibration report belonging to the unit you receive. Each document is export-reviewed separately from the pod.

Full specifications

Model	XQ-170TC
Series	EO/IR Pod Systems (XQ series)
Stabilisation	Two-axis gyro-stabilised, ≤ 100 μrad
Sensor configuration	EO + IR + LRF
Visible channel	1920 × 1080, 30x zoom 4.3 – 129 mm
Thermal channel	1280 × 1024, 75 mm fixed
Laser rangefinder	50 m – 5 km (± 1 m)
Weight	≤2.8 kg
Dimensions	≤Φ170 × 231.3 mm
Power consumption	30 W / 100 W
Detection (EO)	6 km person / 15 km vehicle
Detection (IR)	2 km person / 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 XQ series.

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

Shared across the XQ 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
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.

Where the XQ-170TC is used

Three jobs where a readable night image matters more than the last kilometre of detection range.

Night identification at a checkpoint
The question at a checkpoint is not whether something moves but what it is. A 1280 × 1024 thermal image at 2 km on a person, held by a tracker, lets an operator answer that from a standoff height instead of sending somebody closer to look. When the light returns, the daylight channel takes the job over on the same boresight and the same mount, so nothing has to be reconfigured between shifts.
UAV security →
Coastal and harbour watch
A hull against cold water is easy to detect and hard to identify. The megapixel thermal channel keeps deck structure and superstructure legible at 7 km on a vehicle-sized target, which is the difference between logging a contact and describing it. The 5 km laser then turns it into a position a patrol can be vectored onto without the aircraft having to close on the vessel.
UAV surveillance →
Thermal survey work
Plant and structures read as temperature gradients, and gradients need pixels. A 1280 × 1024 core on a 75 mm lens resolves a joint or a connection instead of averaging it into its surroundings, and the visible channel supplies the daylight photograph that goes beside it in the report, taken from the same position on the same flight.
UAV inspection →

Questions engineers ask about the XQ-170TC

How far does the XQ-170TC detect a person or a vehicle?

Two kilometres on a person and seven on a vehicle through the thermal channel, six and fifteen through the visible one. The 1.7 m and 2.3 m target convention applies to both pairs, and these are detection figures.

Is the 1280 × 1024 detector worth more than a longer lens?

It depends what the crew needs. A longer lens on a smaller detector reaches similar detection distances with fewer pixels per target; this head gives more pixels on the same target, which keeps an image readable when the operator narrows the field or crops a frame for a report.

What does the head weigh, and what platforms fit it?

2.8 kg in a Φ170 × 231.3 mm envelope, which sits with long-endurance fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and heavy multirotors. The quick-release interface and adapter plates mean an airframe already carrying a pod in this class usually needs no structural change.

What is the minimum order, and how is delivery handled?

One unit for a stock configuration, 100 units once the build is customised. Stock heads are dispatched from inventory; a volume or custom schedule is agreed in the quotation itself. Payment is T/T and the warranty runs one year from delivery.

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 XQ-170TC

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

Small ordersUsually held in stock, shipped straight away

Volume ordersDelivery schedule confirmed with your quotation

Reply timeWithin one working day

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