Nyxus Bird in Use by Border Guards

Since the end of 2010, the “Arab Spring” has significantly changed the political situation in some countries in Northern Africa and the Middle East. The related political and social upheavals had been initiated in Tunisia. To support the fragile democracy in a politically controversial area of conflict – located next door to countries like Libya and Algeria – the German Federal Foreign Office started to establish a governmental relief program for the Tunisian security authorities.

In the context of this supporting program next to other goods also night vision devices and thermal imagers have been procured since 2014. The Tunisian security authorities had been receiving them in several shipping lots from 2014 until 2019. The Federal Foreign Office decided in favour of InfraTec due to numerous law‐enforcement references, a suitable product with a unique combination of features and very short delivery times.

The framework of the cooperation provided by the Federal Foreign Office had been the ongoing educational and technical aid program for foreign police forces AAHP. A central point of this program is the establishment of a modern border guard system which started at the Northwestern Tunisian border line towards Algeria. To turn this program into efficient support it had become more than just the supply of tactical equipment and hardware – it also provided extensive infrastructure modernization and extended border guard training for the Tunisian National Guard. The training part had been organized by officers of the German Federal Police. Supported by InfraTec they constantly train the Tunisian border guard officers in the operation of the infrared imager Nyxus Bird.

Fig. 1: The training sessions with Nyxus Bird took place at the command school in Qued Zarga some 70 km West of Tunis. German trainers are coaching the participants in using high‐resolution thermal imagers.

Nyxus Bird had been preferred as a very robust and compact portable thermal imager for the program due to its multi‐functionality, which perfectly matches the requirements currently being faced by border guards in Northern Africa. Next to the high‐resolution channel with (640 x 480) IR pixels a visual daylight channel with 7x magnification can be activated instantly. This is equipped with highly transmissive multicoated optics which suppress disturbing sunlight reflections in critical observing situations. For rapid tactical analysis both spectral channels are equipped with a tactical reticle.

The integrated precise and eyesafe diode laser rangefinder has a measuring range of up to 5 km. Due to its operational wavelength of 1,550 nm it cannot be detected by night vision devices. By utilizing the internal GPS and compass features of the Nyxus Bird border guard officers can measure precise positions of remote targets. Tripod adaption, external power supply, video interface and a remote control interface offer additional options for deployed operation and permanent monitoring of critical locations.

Next to the introduction of Nyxus Bird in Tunisia this device, originally being designed for the German Bundeswehr, had been procured by further security forces in Germany, other European Union countries, South America and South‐ East Asia. Next to the straightforward and easy handling the ruggedized waterproof and shock resistant enclosure design supports daily work in extreme environments. An enforced aluminum alloy protects the sensitive mechanics and sensor even under the toughest operational conditions and ensures constant usability of this thermal imager.