XQ series · Two-axis · EO + IR + LRF

XQ-254T two-axis EO/IR pod with 15 km LRF

The long-range pod: 15 km ranging and a 254 mm turret for maritime and border patrol aircraft. Because it uses the same stabilisation stack and control protocol as the rest of the XQ series, it can share a mount and a cable run with other heads in the range.

Weight 10 kg
Two-axis stabilised
EO 1920 × 1080
Thermal 640 × 512
LRF 100 m – 15 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-254T is

The XQ-254T is the top of this range: 10 kg, a Φ254 × 337 mm turret, a thermal channel zooming 40 – 220 mm and a rangefinder rated to 15 km. The visible channel is a 30x optic, and the laser is the reason the model exists, because a 100 m to 15 km measurement is a different instrument from the 3 km and 5 km units lower in the family. It is built for maritime patrol and border aircraft asked for a position at a distance where the atmosphere, not the detector, sets the limit.

A 15 km rangefinder, and the conditions it needs

The long measurement is the specification; whether it returns a number depends on the day.

EO / visible

1920 × 1080, 30x zoom 4.3 – 129 mm

Detection at 6 km person, 15 km vehicle, and the channel the laser is aimed from.

Thermal / IR

640 × 512, continuous zoom 40 – 220 mm

The channel that finds the target: 4.9 km person, 20 km vehicle.

Laser rangefinder

100 m – 15 km (± 1 m)

Eye-safe at 1535 nm, with a 100 m near limit for close work.

When 15 km is a real number

A long measurement depends on three things beyond the instrument: clear air, a target with enough return, and a line of sight steady enough to keep the beam on it. Over water in good visibility, against a hull, 15 km is the working case; in haze expect less.

Daylight EO imagery from a HITS camera payload with vehicles detected and boxed automatically — Daylight channel at 30x, the wide field the long laser is pointed from.

A 254 mm turret, and what the size is for

The Φ254 × 337 mm envelope carries the thermal zoom group, the 30x daylight optic and the long laser in one housing, and 10 kg is what that assembly weighs. The diameter is not cosmetic: the apertures behind it set how much light reaches each detector.

Thermal imagery from a HITS camera payload with a target held by the onboard tracker — Continuous-zoom thermal 40 – 220 mm on a target held across the zoom.

The night channel that goes with it

A 15 km laser needs something to point at, so the thermal channel zooms 40 – 220 mm and reaches 4.9 km on a person, 20 km on a vehicle. A patrol sweeps wide and narrows onto a contact without leaving its orbit.

HITS ground station showing UAV payload video with target coordinates — Ground station: 15 km laser coordinate, video and sensor status together.

Everything in the specification serves one requirement: a measured position at a range where most pods are still deciding whether there is a target there at all.

Stabilisation and mechanical design

Ten kilograms, two axes, one heavy moment

Ten kilograms of glass and housing on a two-axis gimbal is the load case this model is designed around. The axes are brushless and direct-drive, encoded at the joint, and the stability figure is the family’s own: ≤ 100 μrad (1σ) at ≥ 60°/s, with far more rotating mass behind it.

Φ254 × 337 mm, 70 W cruising, 200 W peak

The envelope is Φ254 × 337 mm, and power runs 70 W in cruise to 200 W at peak on 11–28 VDC. That peak is the largest in the family, and on an aircraft with a generator behind it the electrical margin is easier to find than the structural one.

Detection and tracking at the edge

Detection at the edge of the envelope

Classification and tracking run inside the pod. At 15 km the image is thin and the link may be thinner, so detection computed on board keeps a contact marked while the crew decides whether to close.

Twenty marks over a wide sea area

Up to 20 targets can be held at once. On water, contacts are sparse and slow to resolve, so the crew accumulates a picture over a long orbit and works one contact without losing the others.

A ten-kilogram turret on a patrol aircraft

This is a structural installation, not a payload swap, and the numbers below are what to design around.

Structure and mounting

Quick-release on an isolated base with adapter plates, but at 10 kg and Φ254 × 337 mm it needs a hardpoint engineered for the mass. A compliant or undersized bracket shows as line-of-sight error, which at 15 km of ranging is the difference between a measurement and a miss.

Load budget and the common interface

Two hundred watts at peak, seventy at cruise, all on the 11–28 VDC rail. Everything downstream of the connector is common to the family: a serial control pair with SBUS and MAVLink, H.264 or H.265 over Ethernet at 100 Mbps, 128 GB of on-board recording, and a sealed housing specified −20 °C to +60 °C. See the technology pages.

On the aircraft

Turret, harness and ground station. The airframe in the photograph is illustrative; the load case is the ten kilograms on the hard point.

A ten-kilogram installation usually starts with a drawing review, so the three-view outline and pinout are released first; the control protocol, the video pipeline note and the unit’s calibration and test report follow with the hardware. Everything is export-reviewed.

Full specifications

Model	XQ-254T
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	640 × 512, continuous zoom 40 – 220 mm
Laser rangefinder	100 m – 15 km (± 1 m)
Weight	≤10 kg
Dimensions	≤Φ254 × 337 mm
Power consumption	70 W / 200 W
Detection (EO)	6 km person / 15 km vehicle
Detection (IR)	4.9 km person / 20 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 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-254T is used

Three roles where a 15 km measurement changes what the aircraft can be asked to do.

Maritime patrol and fisheries
A hull at long range over open water is the case a 15 km laser is built for: clear air, a large reflective target, an aircraft holding a steady orbit. The thermal channel finds the contact at 20 km on a vehicle-sized target and the laser fixes its position long before the vessel is anywhere near an intercept, which is the difference between a patrol that reacts and one that arrives prepared.
Military UAV →
Border and coastal surveillance
A coastline patrol is a long, repetitive orbit, and the value is in what can be measured without leaving it. The 254 mm turret carries a 30x daylight optic, a 40 – 220 mm thermal and the long laser together, so a contact is found, identified and fixed as a coordinate from the same line, with no second aircraft and no return leg to confirm what was seen.
UAV surveillance →
Airborne observation from a helicopter
A helicopter lifts 10 kg without argument and holds a line for a long observation. The long laser and the zooming thermal let an observer work a scene at distance, and the 100 m near limit covers close work such as a mast or a jetty on the way past, so one sortie answers both the distant and the immediate question.
Helicopter cameras →

Questions engineers ask about the XQ-254T

How far can the XQ-254T range a target?

One hundred metres to 15 km at ± 1 m, eye-safe at 1535 nm. Whether a reading returns at the far end depends on the air, the size and reflectivity of the target and how steady the platform is, so 15 km is the instrument limit rather than a promise for every scene.

What are the detection ranges on the visible and thermal channels?

Six kilometres on a person and fifteen on a vehicle through the 30x daylight optic; 4.9 km and 20 km through the thermal channel, which zooms 40 – 220 mm. Those four are detection figures against 1.7 m and 2.3 m targets.

Why does the pod weigh 10 kg?

Because it carries a 254 mm turret with a thermal zoom group, a 30x daylight optic and a 15 km laser, and holds all of it steady on two axes. The mass is the cost of the apertures and of the structure that keeps a beam on a target at that range; lighter pods in the family reach shorter distances.

Is a single unit available for evaluation on our airframe?

A catalogue head can be bought as one unit, which is how most programmes start. Leaving the catalogue raises the floor to 100. Anything already in stock leaves immediately; a custom or volume run gets its dates in the quotation, settled by T/T, with twelve months of warranty from handover.

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-254T

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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