the housing of nose section 34 for viewing by sensor optics 50 and an ir sensor housed within and rotatable with nose section 34 ir window 48 may be flat or curved or comprise a single optical element or several optical elements in a conformal configuration the sensor having line of sight 24 may be a linear array infrared detector operating in the 3 5 u03bcm or 8 12 u03bcm wavelength bands sensor optics 50 is affixed to and rotatable with a gimbal 52 in the direction of arrow headed line 54 as shown in fig4 gimba1 52 is supported by bearings 56 and is rotated by a direct current torque motor 58 within a support structure 60 the specific components are of conventional construction a heat exchanger 61a and signal electronics 61b are carried in bulkhead 32 infrared sensor and optics 50 include a plurality of optical elements 62 in which lens 62a is the objective thereof some of which are shown in fig4 a detector dewar cryogenic cooler 64 and sensor electronic apparatus 66 power forms mode control commands and digitized video signals traverse the gimbal interface through a slip ring brushblock assembly 68 see fig3 because objective lens 62a is angled at a substantially non perpendicular angle to window 48 and to minimize the size of the window while at the same to utilize its area fully.