XQ series · Two-axis · EO + IR + LRF

XQ-255T two-axis EO/IR pod with 9.5 km LRF

A two-axis EO/IR (electro-optical/infrared) pod for heavy fixed-wing platforms, helicopters and maritime patrol aircraft. 55x daylight zoom with dual continuous-zoom optics for the largest airframes in the range.

Weight 10 kg
Two-axis stabilised
EO 1920 × 1080
Thermal 640 × 512
LRF 80 m – 9.5 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-255T is

A ten-kilogram pod built around reach rather than around axes. Both imaging channels zoom continuously — 55x on the visible side, 4.25 – 234 mm, and 20 – 120 mm on the thermal side — and the rangefinder reaches 9.5 km. Two axes, pitch and yaw, carry that optics set in a Φ255 × 325 mm envelope. The bet is that a heavy fixed-wing aircraft or a helicopter already holds roll for the pod, so the mass and volume a third axis would have taken go into focal length. What that buys is a head that can name a contact at 10.1 km rather than only detect it.

Two zoom channels and a rangefinder that reaches 9.5 km

Both imaging channels zoom; that is what separates this pod from a fixed-lens turret.

EO / visible

1920 × 1080, 55x zoom 4.25 – 234 mm

10.1 km on a person, 25 km on a vehicle.

Thermal / IR

640 × 512, continuous zoom 20 – 120 mm

3.3 km on a person, 9 km on a vehicle.

Laser rangefinder

80 m – 9.5 km (± 1 m)

Eye-safe 1535 nm; the near end still measures a mast.

What 234 mm is buying

1920 × 1080 through 55x, 4.25 – 234 mm, detecting a person at 10.1 km and a vehicle at 25 km. Focal length is bought with aperture and glass, so the long end is why the pod weighs 10 kg: 234 mm puts usable pixels on a contact a shorter optic shows as a shape.

Daylight EO imagery from a HITS camera payload with vehicles detected and boxed automatically — Visible channel at 55x, vehicles boxed by the onboard detector.

A thermal that zooms

640 × 512 with a 20 – 120 mm continuous zoom at NETD ≤ 40 mK, detecting 3.3 km on a person and 9 km on a vehicle. A fixed thermal lens gives the night watch one field for the sortie; here the crew searches at 20 mm and narrows to 120 mm without changing sensor.

Thermal imagery from a HITS camera payload with a target held by the onboard tracker — Thermal channel through its 20 – 120 mm zoom, target held by the tracker.

Ranging from 80 m to 9.5 km

The near end matters as much as the far one: a mast at 80 m is as valid a target as a vessel at 9.5 km, with ± 1 m across the span. Readings feed the coordinate calculation, and both channels are boresighted, so a target holds its pixel through a zoom.

HITS ground station showing UAV payload video with target coordinates — Ground station output fed by the rangefinder: video, coordinates, sensor status.

Two zoom mechanisms and a 234 mm optic are what the 10 kg and the 30 W / 150 W buy; what they add is that no target changes sensor between being found and being named.

Stabilisation and mechanical design

Two axes, and who holds roll

Pitch and yaw are direct-drive brushless axes with high-resolution encoders and no gear train in the path. At ≥ 60°/s the line of sight holds ≤ 100 μrad (1σ) while the aircraft manoeuvres. Roll is left to the airframe, which is the assumption the layout rests on.

10 kg, Φ255 × 325 mm

Mass is 10 kg and the envelope Φ255 × 325 mm, on 11–28 VDC and drawing 30 W / 150 W at peak. That suits a heavy fixed-wing aircraft, a helicopter or a maritime patrol platform, and the envelope is stated so the station and the mount are designed around a known volume rather than a nominal one.

Detection and tracking at the edge

Autonomy matters more as the link stretches

Detection, classification and tracking all run inside the pod. At these ranges a target is a few pixels wide and the link is the weakest part of the chain, so on-board detection of person, vehicle, vessel and aircraft means the boxes do not depend on remaining bandwidth.

Twenty targets, one working lock

Up to 20 targets can be held while the operator works a single lock. The tracker survives rotation and scale change and re-acquires after occlusion — a vessel passing behind an island or a vehicle dropping behind a treeline comes back with the box still on it.

Integrating a ten-kilogram head

Ten kilograms and 150 W change what the airframe side has to provide.

A structural hard point, not an adapter bracket

The pod mounts on a quick-release interface with a vibration-isolated base; adapter plates cover airframes whose bolt pattern differs. At 10 kg and Φ255 × 325 mm it needs a hard point designed for the mass, not an adapted small-payload bracket, and those figures are the catalogue limits the stress case is built from.

Electrical budget and shared interfaces

Size the aircraft bus against the peak rather than the cruise figure, because the pod draws 30 W / 150 W. The rest is the range’s common layer — 11–28 VDC, RS-422 / RS-232 / TTL control with SBUS and MAVLink, Ethernet video at 100 Mbps in H.264 or H.265 recorded to 128 GB on board, −20 °C to +60 °C operating in a sealed housing — documented on the technology pages.

XQ-255T gimbal camera payload integrated on a fixed-wing UAV with ground control station

On the aircraft

Pod, cable run and ground station on a fixed-wing airframe, at the 10 kg hard point.

Documentation with the first pod: control protocol, video pipeline description, three-view outline with pinout, calibration and test report. Export assessment applies to documents as it does to the hardware.

Full specifications

Model	XQ-255T
Series	EO/IR Pod Systems (XQ series)
Stabilisation	Two-axis gyro-stabilised, ≤ 100 μrad
Sensor configuration	EO + IR + LRF
Visible channel	1920 × 1080, 55x zoom 4.25 – 234 mm
Thermal channel	640 × 512, continuous zoom 20 – 120 mm
Laser rangefinder	80 m – 9.5 km (± 1 m)
Weight	≤10 kg
Dimensions	≤Φ255 × 325 mm
Power consumption	30 W / 150 W
Detection (EO)	10.1 km person / 25 km vehicle
Detection (IR)	3.3 km person / 9 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-255T is used

Three profiles that need focal length and standoff more than they need a third axis.

Maritime and border patrol
A contact on water is small, slow to resolve and far away. 10.1 km person and 25 km vehicle detection by day, plus a thermal channel zooming 20 mm to 120 mm for the night watch, lets a crew classify a vessel long before closing on it, and the 9.5 km rangefinder says how far out it is. That standoff is the point: the aircraft need not leave its line to answer the question.
UAV surveillance →
Forestry fire watch after dark
A fire front at night is a thermal target inside a large area, which is what a zoom thermal is for: sweep at 20 mm to find the hot spot, narrow to 120 mm to read its edge, then use the 55x visible channel in daylight to map what burned. Ten kilograms suits a platform that stays up for a whole watch.
Night vision →
Identification from fixed wing, outside the area
An aircraft flying a line at altitude needs focal length, not agility. The 234 mm long end and the 9.5 km rangefinder let a crew identify and range a target from outside the area being watched, while the airframe holds roll and the two-axis mount keeps the sight line on it. Ten kilograms is a fair trade for that: the platform carries fuel for the sortie anyway.
Long-range imaging →

Questions engineers ask about the XQ-255T

At what distance does the XQ-255T detect a person or a vehicle?

10.1 km on a person and 25 km on a vehicle on the visible channel, 3.3 km and 9 km on the thermal channel, against the standard 1.7 m person and 2.3 m vehicle targets. Recognition and identification ranges are shorter and are given in the datasheet.

How do orders and delivery schedules work?

A catalogue build starts at one unit; once the configuration changes, ordering starts at 100 units. Stock heads are dispatched as stock, and for volume or custom builds the delivery schedule is settled in the same document as the quotation. Payment is by T/T and the warranty runs one year from delivery.

When is a two-axis mount actually enough?

When the airframe holds roll for it. Pitch and yaw are stabilised to ≤ 100 μrad (1σ) with ≥ 60°/s of loop response, and on a fixed-wing aircraft or a helicopter in a steady turn the aircraft attitude already supplies the reference a third axis would provide. A small multirotor working in gusty air is where that assumption stops holding.

What does 10 kg do to endurance?

It takes mass and electrical budget from the aircraft: 10 kg of payload and a 30 W / 150 W draw have to come out of a platform that can carry them. The penalty depends on the airframe’s payload fraction and battery, so it is worked out per platform rather than given as one figure — and the 234 mm focal length is why the mass is there.

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-255T

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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