In order to reduce the influence of vibration on the image quality and precision stability of a airborne electro-optical surveillance platform,a vibration damping design was performed. Based on the detailed analysis of complex damping theory,a two-grade damping system between the inter and outer frames of the platform was designed to isolate the vibration from inter frame to outer frame effectively in view of the shortcoming of the single-stage vibration isolation system. By using the two-dimensional parameter optimization method, the optimum natural frequency ratio fopt and the optimum damping ratio ζopt of the vibration damping system were calculated to be 1.43 and 0.243,respectively. Finally, the vibration damping effect was illustrated through a vibration test. Compared with the previous single-stage vibration isolation system, experimental results show that the maximum vibration transmissibility of vibration damping system is lower by 50%, the frequency range of vibration transmission rate less than 1 is wider, and the amplitude range of transmissibility on high frequency is much better than that of the single-stage vibration isolation system. It is concluded that the vibration damping design is feasible and effective for electro-optical surveillance platforms.