So why is it used for flying through low vis conditions?
not when that low vis is due to cloud, fog or rain - pretty standard searching conditions for UKSAR. IR sensors need thermal contrast to see differences is radiated energy - if what you are looking for is effectively the same temperature as the background you won't see it. Water vapour massively attenuates thermal contrast. You must have been briefed on thermal crossover in Afghan.
Took me 1 minute to find that out on their website.
you miss my point - this is being touted as an asset for searching large areas of Sea - range and endurance become very important.
Varied terrain and weather conditions? Yes, Afghanistan had those too.
Remind me just how much sea Afghanistan has again????? Just because the technology works against ground targets in Afghan doesn't make it a must have for UKSAR.
People who want to argue the validity of this system in UKSAR need at least to have tried searching over land and sea, day and night and in poor weather beforehand.
Searching to kill is not the same game as searching to rescue.