The Portuguese Special Forces Unit is the latest military operation to put the capabilities of GPS to good use. Geo Tactical Solutions, Inc. has announced this unit has purchased several G700SEM Tactical GPS Long-Range Camera Kits in the hopes of improving ISR capabilities, or intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.

 

Geo Tactical Solutions provides high-tech GPS cameras, modules, and photo mapping software, and provided the Portuguese Army Special Forces on-site training in Lisbon, Portugal in the use of the GPS cameras. The G700SE-M Tactical Long-Range Camera Kit includes the G700SE-M rugged GPS camera, 2X and 8X zoom teleconverter lenses, laser range finder, and a 65X zoom spotting scope which can be attached to the G700SE-M camera to capture photos at long-range, as well as allowing long-range observation.

 

Jim Kidd, Vice President of Geo Tactical Solutions, explains the package: “The specially configured and ruggedized G700SE-M digital camera, long range optics, and laser range finder all work seamlessly together to provide high quality geo-tagged images along with who, what, when, where, and why ‘memos’ that are permanently imbedded in the exif header of each jpeg image. The associated software plug-in – FoxView – allows them to easily map their images collected in the field, integrate data with GIS applications such as ArcGIS, FalconView, TIGR, GeoSuite, and Google Earth, and generate photo-enhanced reports quickly and efficiently.”

 

The combination of the G700SE-M GPS camera and long-range spotting scope gives users the ability to identify and photograph things that are as far as 1,000 meters away. The GPS receiver and on-board electronic compass allows the accurate recording of GPS coordinates (LAT/LONG, MGRS, Decimal Degrees, etc.) and even records the direction the camera was pointing when the picture was taken. The addition of the laser range finder provides the distance and GPS coordinates of the object being photographed, offering the recording of this information with the press of a button.

 

Kidd said, “I’ve always wondered what the militaries of relatively small and “unthreatened” countries do to justify their existence. After all, it’s been at least 400 years since neighboring Spain has invaded Portugal, so why have a highly trained Special Forces group? Well, as it turns out, the Portuguese Special Forces periodically deploy around the world to serve and protect Portuguese people living in former Portuguese territories. They also serve alongside other NATO Nations in various peacekeeping missions around the world. The Special Forces until I trained are a proud, professional, and capable force. They are well equipped and anxious to make a difference wherever they go. Most importantly, though, they are good friends of the United States and can certainly be relied upon to offer help when it’s needed. We’re proud to have them as a new customer and look forward to working with them again in the near future.”