1. A wide area imaging system for performing surveillance of an area, the system comprising: a first sensor having a focal plane array (FPA) and lens producing a first predetermined field of view, the first sensor using a rotational step/dwell/image capture sequence to capture images of the area under surveillance, the captured images being used to produce a first wide-area image of the area under surveillance; a rotatable subassembly, the first sensor being mounted to the rotatable subassembly for rotation therewith; a motor configured to rotate the rotatable subassembly about an axis of rotation in a plurality of steps to advance the first predetermined field of view of the first sensor in a direction of the rotation; a processor configured to synchronize image capture by the first sensor with motion of the first sensor in the direction of the rotation, wherein at least one step of the plurality of steps has a smaller size than at least one other step of the plurality of steps.