Marlborough Communications Limited (MCL) is helping to bring a new detection capability to the defence industry known as ‘hyperspectral imagery’.
The concept has assisted in the mining and agricultural sectors to assess mineral composition and crop health. Whereas in defence, the capability now provides closer insight in detecting anomalous features in a real-time image. It works by combining spectroscopy – how matter interacts with electromagnetic radiation – with traditional digital cameras.
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In this way, hyperspectral imaging offers another layer for corroborating intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) where an adversary and its assets may be hidden.
“So we’ve got a huge amount of interest across defence… just because of that extra option it gives you and your intelligence, but it’s not a silver bullet, you [should] use it in conjunction with other things” such as thermal imaging, advised James King, projects director at MCL.
As a subsidiary of the UK-based Cohort technology group, MCL demonstrated the emerging concept to Army Technology during a preview of its latest military capabilities on 11 June 2025, ahead of the biennial DSEI exhibition due to take place in September at the Excel in London.
A long-time coming
MCL have been tracking the concept for the last five years, supporting the work of HySpex and Cubert, Norwegian and German hyperspectral imaging start-ups respectively.
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By GlobalDataDefence is only realising the applications now because of the faster, real-time processing methods available today.
“The most critical thing is how fast you are able to provide the data, even the analysed data, the information you’re interested in,” said King. “This was not possible 15 years ago… until [now] hyperspectral imaging [data] was large, bulky.”
This is not the first time that the capability has been considered in defence. The UK government’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory incorporated hyperspectral imaging systems as a payload alongside other ISR systems on two Prometheus 2 CubeSat satellites in 2022, but the launch that was due to take place the following year was unsuccessful.
In 2020, the Australian government revealed that its defence scientists are building a database of hyperspectral imaging data to support the development of next-generation camouflage.
Although work has been ongoing, these instances demonstrate that the concept has remained in a nascent stage of development until now.
How is the capability deployed?
Operators can deploy hyperspectral imaging systems by any means. Beside satellites, the capability can function from a tripod as an array, it can be mounted, but typically it is deployed as a payload on drones, particularly uncrewed aerial systems (UAS).
GlobalData intelligence projects the global military UAS market, currently valued at $13.6bn (£10bn) in 2025, will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.3% in the next ten years.
If a UAS reaches an altitude of 100 metres, then the capability will have coverage of around 30 metres of the ground below. Typically, the capability is deployed for two reasons: either to provide more insight on an anomaly in the image or to look for specific aspects determined by an analyst beforehand.
Such a capability would prove useful in Ukraine, a country with dense forest areas, in tracking Russian vehicle assets often hidden in foliage. However, King could only confirm that the hyperspectral imaging system has been trialled in Europe in 2025.
