Sponsored by Blighter Surveillance Systems
www.blighter.com
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23 Jan 20. US MDA identifies Kauai military site for $1.9bn defence radar. The US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has identified Kauai military site as a possible location for its proposed $1.9bn Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii. The flat facing radar will be sited at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) at Barking Sands on Kauai’s west coast. It is expected to be 80ft-90ft tall and about 50ft wide. Previously, three sites were being studied for the radar, as mandated by the Congress.
Two sites that were studied are located at the US Army’s Kahuku Training Area and on Kuaokala Ridge at Kaena point.
Missile Defense Agency team lead public affairs officer Heather Reed Cavaliere said in an email to Hawaii News Now: “In coordination with INDOPACOM, MDA is currently revisiting the viability of fielding the Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii on Department of Defense property at PMRF.
“In October 2019, MDA began conducting analyses and studies at PMRF locations not previously explored in the siting analysis. This effort is ongoing and MDA expects to make a site suitability determination in March-April 2020.”
Cavaliere further added that a suitable site will be identified at the facility and incorporated into an environmental impact statement to carry out complete analysis along with the other sites on Oahu.
According to the Department of Defense, a radar needs to be built in the Pacific to enhance missile tracking.
Construction of the radar is anticipated to take three to five years. Oce completed, it is expected to add around 130 military, contractor and other related jobs.
The Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii is intended to reach farther out so as to identify warheads from rocket parts. (Source: army-technology.com)
23 Jan 20. Streamlight® Inc., a leading provider of high-performance lighting and weapon light/laser sighting devices, introduced the TLR-9™ rail mounted tactical light, designed for use with full frame handguns. Featuring a slim, compact design, the new light offers ergonomic rear switches with either a low or high position to match users’ shooting styles, while providing 1,000 lumens for a variety of tactical and home defense uses.
“This lightweight new tactical light is engineered to be both sleek and powerful, featuring a high power LED for extreme brightness and extensive range, as well as good peripheral coverage,” said Streamlight President and Chief Executive Officer Ray Sharrah. “It also features an ambidextrous on/off rear switch with low and high positions to suit user preference. And it fits a wide variety of full frame handguns, making it an ideal light for first responder and tactical applications.”
The TLR-9 uses a power LED to provide 1,000 lumens and 10,000 candela over a 200-meter beam distance with a run time of 1.5 hours; the light’s strobe mode offers 3 continuous hours of run time. The light is energized by two 3 Volt CR123A lithium batteries.
Securely fitting to a broad range of weapons, the TLR-9 features a one-handed, snap on and tighten interface that keeps hands away from gun muzzles when attaching or detaching it. The light also includes a Safe Off feature, locking it to prevent accidental activation. A key kit is included to securely fit the light to a broad array of handguns.
Constructed with durable 6000 Series machined aircraft aluminum with a black anodized finish, the TLR-9 weighs 4.26 ounces and measures 3.87 inches in length.
With extensively live-fire tested, impact-resistant construction, the new model features an IPX7-rated design, making it waterproof to 1 meter for 30 minutes.
The TLR-9 is packaged as the TLR-9 FLEX that comes with a High switch mounted on the light, plus an included Low switch. It has an MSRP of $240.00, and comes with Streamlight’s Limited Lifetime Warranty.
22 Jan 20. RNLAF air operations control station receives SMART-L radar. The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) air operations control station (AOCS) in Nieuw Milligen received the Signaal Multibeam Acquisition Radar for Targeting-Long range (SMART-L) in Wier, Friesland, on 16 January, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on its website on 17 January. The radar will replace the Medium Power Radar (MPR), which has been in service for more than 40 years.
“Much has changed during the time the [MPR] has been in service,” said AOCS commander Colonel Marco Zeemeijer. “Not only are there new players in the airspace, like unmanned aerial vehicles, but also modern combat aircraft. Nieuw Milligen is ready for its role in the air force of the future.”
Building work on the Wier site is expected to be completed this year, to be followed by the SMART-L’s transfer to the RNLAF, according to the Dutch MoD. Thales, which is supplying the radar systems, said on 22 January that full operational capability is included in the delivery. “It will be set to work in the coming weeks, after which the final qualification trials will be executed in May. The radar will be handed over to the customer for operational use after analysis and reporting in September,” a company spokesperson told Jane’s. (Source: Jane’s)
22 Jan 20. New eyes for the Light Cavalry. Sources at IAV told BATTLESPACE that the Light Cavalry is looking at the addition of an EO/IR mast with a dismounted laser rangefinder/camera for target acquisition on the Jackal fleet. A number of companies are believed to have expressed interest in this requirement. More details are expected later in the year. Chess Dynamics developed a similar system some years ago as a Private Venture following a requirement seen for a system for use on the eastern European Border.
22 Jan 20. Chinese navy trialling new search radar. China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is undertaking trials on a new search radar that may be intended for use on a future class of surface combatant or for retrofitting to current frigates and some destroyers. The radar has been installed on the Type 909A (Dahua-) class trials ship Hua Luogeng (pennant number 892) and is configured with two inclined back-to-back planar arrays on a mechanically rotated pedestal. The two square arrays appear to be similar in size to the arrays of the Type 382 long-range surveillance radar, which is derived in part from the Russian-made Fregat MR-710 (‘Top Plate’) radar. (Source: Jane’s)
22 Jan 20. Telephonics demonstrates MOSAIC radar system on US Navy helicopter. Griffon’s wholly-owned subsidiary Telephonics has demonstrated its MOSAIC Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar system on a US Navy MH-60S Seahawk multi-mission helicopter.
During flight demonstrations conducted over the Mid-Atlantic region, Telephonics showcased AESA’s discriminating capabilities including Autonomous Anti-Surface Warfare radar operations and true dual beam technology for the first time.
H-60 Multi-Mission Helicopters (PMA-299) programme manager Todd Evans said: “This new generation AESA radar has the potential to provide great benefit to the future vertical lift platform.”
The dual-beam technology of Telephonics uses two independent beams from a single radar aperture.
It allows the MOSAIC radar system to perform continuous autonomously scheduled Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR) imaging while conducting surveillance, detection and tracking operations at the same time.
This is expected to reduce the time needed to complete operations related to the recognised maritime picture. The saved ISAR images are associated with track parametric data used to carry out a review.
Telephonics president Kevin McSweeney said: “We are excited to introduce our MOSAIC AESA system to the marketplace.
“We are known as an innovator in design and development of maritime surveillance systems, and with the numerous advanced modes developed exclusively for this radar, we believe we have a solution that exceeds current AESA capabilities.”
In September last year, the US Navy’s Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) delivered the first two redesigned MH-60S Seahawk gunner seats to the fleet. During August, Telephonics secured a contract to supply its AN/UPX-44 Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) system in support of the Republic of Korea (ROK) naval modernisation programmes. (Source: naval-technology.com)
21 Jan 20. Cambridge Pixel, a developer of radar display, tracking and recording sub-systems (www.cambridgepixel.com), has added ASD-View to its air surveillance product portfolio to meet the growing demand for the visualisation of ADS-B aircraft data in maritime and surveillance applications.
ASD-View is a PC-based Windows application for ADS-B receivers that displays data from co-operating targets such as commercial aircraft, helicopters, light aircraft, and drones. ASD-View was developed to meet increasing demand for an ADS-B viewer from oil & gas platforms, port and harbour authorities and other maritime and surveillance applications.
The new ASD-View software product is a standards-based viewer that interfaces with an ADS-B data stream and converts the reports into track symbols that are geo-referenced on a map. The software is compatible with a range of ADS-B decoders supporting ASTERIX CAT-21, AVR, BEAST, AirNav and 112-bit raw formats.
ASD-View displays the ADS-B tracks as symbols overlaid on a map. The software supports land-based installations and also maritime or offshore platforms where positional information for the platform is provided by an NMEA 0183 stream. The underlying software components for ADS-B decoding and visualisation are also available for software developers in Cambridge Pixel’s SPx development software.
Richard Warren, director of software, Cambridge Pixel, said: “With the increasing adoption of ADS-B technology, by which aircraft transmit position and status information, the desire to incorporate this data into surveillance and maritime environments continues to grow.
“ASD-View provides a clean, simple and versatile display application, with the option to upgrade to the enhanced capabilities of our ASD-100 air situation display application, if desired. The ASD-100 permits ADS-B data to be combined with primary radar and tracks for a fully fused integrated air picture of both cooperating and non-cooperating targets.”
Cambridge Pixel’s ASD-100 Air Situation Display is a PC-based air surveillance display application providing an operator with a complete and integrated picture of everything in the skies, military or commercial air traffic, whether friend or foe.
The ASD-100 display incorporates primary and secondary IFF radar, underlay maps, and target tracks, of which any combination of primary, IFF and fused tracks may be shown. The ASD-100 display application allows alarm areas and alarm conditions to be defined to permit early detection of dangers or events of interest, and flights plans may be viewed for specific targets.
“Where ASD-View provides a visualisation capability for ADS-B tracks, our ASD-100 product expands the capabilities to include primary and IFF radar and derived track data,” said Richard Warren, director of software, Cambridge Pixel. “ASD-100 can therefore be used as part of a comprehensive upgrade of legacy air defence processing and display systems, which may also include replacement of legacy track extractor hardware. Such upgrades are predominantly software based, making them cost-effective and future-proof.”
Cambridge Pixel’s radar technology is used in naval, air traffic control, vessel traffic, commercial shipping, security, surveillance and airborne radar applications. Its systems have been implemented in mission-critical applications with companies such as BAE Systems, Frontier Electronic Systems, Blighter Surveillance Systems, Exelis, Hanwha Systems, Kelvin Hughes, Lockheed Martin, Navtech Radar, Raytheon, Saab Sensis, Royal Thai Air Force, Sofresud and Tellumat.
21 Jan 20. Leonardo to provide RAT 31 DL/M radar system to Indonesian Air Force. Italian defence group Leonardo has signed a contract with Indonesian company PT Len Industri (Persero) to provide an RAT 31DL/M long-range, 3D air-defence radar system for the Indonesian Air Force (Tentara Nasional Indonesia – Angkatan Udara: TNI-AU).
The TNI-AU will operate the L-band, solid-state, phased array radar system to strengthen Indonesia’s air defences, said the company in a 21 January statement, without providing any details about the value of the contract or the delivery schedule.
Leonardo said PT Len Industri will supply local components, infrastructure support, and expert radar maintenance, adding that “for this contract and future programmes in [the] country Leonardo and PT Len Industri plan a joint production of radars in Indonesia”.
The latest developments came after Leonardo announced in November 2019 at the Defense & Security exhibition in Bangkok that it would provide a RAT31 DL radar system to the Royal Thai Air Force.
According to Leonardo, the RAT 31 DL/M, which has an effective range of more than 470 km, has already been acquired by the Austrian, German, and Italian air forces in addition to the air force of an undisclosed northern African country. (Source: Jane’s)
20 Jan 20. Royal Navy’s new aircraft carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and Prince Of Wales hit new problems as £269m state-of-the-art radar is ‘too sensitive to use.’
- The billion-pound aircraft carriers could be left vulnerable to attack due to problems with their radar system
- Crowsnest, an early warning sensor built for the Royal Navy and worth £269m, said to be ‘too sensitive to use’
- Software difficulties were reported following a test of the radar system just before Christmas, insiders claim
- Queen Elizabeth-class carriers have been beset by mechanical issues since they launched in 2014 and 2017
The Royal Navy’s billion-pound aircraft carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and Prince Of Wales could be left vulnerable to attack due to problems with their cutting-edge radar system.
Crowsnest, the most advanced aerial early warning sensor ever built for the Royal Navy at a cost of £269m, is reportedly ‘too sensitive to use’, according to navy insiders.
The aerial defence system, which detects potential threats at sea, will be the ‘eyes and ears’ for the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, which have been beset by mechanical issues since launching in 2014 and 2017.
But sources close to the state-of-the-art project today warned that IT issues with the sensor array could delay its roll-out and it may not be ready for HMS Queen Elizabeth’s first mission.
Software difficulties were reported following a test of the radar system just before Christmas.
One insider said: ‘People are running around like blue-arsed flies on this. They’re so far behind on the entire system we can’t train the flight crews because the simulators aren’t ready yet.
Flight trials using the Merlin Mark 2 helicopters have already been delayed by several months due to technical issues, while the aircraft carriers a suffered from a raft of other problems such as floods and electrical blackouts.
Former head of the Royal Navy Admiral Lord Alan West, who served in the Falkland war, said it is critical for the £3.1bn aircraft carrier’s defence that the system is fully operational.
He said: ‘One of the lessons in the Falklands was that we needed airborne early warning systems.
‘If we would have had that in the Falklands we would never have lost HMS Sheffield.’
But Aerospace company Lockheed Martin, which is leading the programme with defence firm Thales, has insisted the technology will be ready in time for super carrier Queen Elizabeth’s first mission next year.
Crowsnest is the most advanced aerial early warning sensor ever built for the Royal Navy and cost £269m.
The aerial defence system, which detects potential threats at sea, will be the ‘eyes and ears’ for the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers once it is fully operational. The radar is mounted in a dome-shaped inflatable bag on the port side of the helicopter.
The system is able to monitor up to 600 contacts simultaneously.
The Searchwater radar is able to ‘look down’ and track small, fast-moving targets over land and water or ‘look up’ and track multiple aircraft.
According to the Royal Navy’s website, the exact details of the range and capabilities of the new system are ‘obviously not in the public domain’.
A high-ranking naval officer admitted the delays were worrying. He warned of a ‘reluctance’ to seek ‘independent help’ when issues arose.
He added: ‘It will happen, it’s got to happen. Crowsnest is a terribly important part of the whole carrier strike capability.’
Shadow defence procurement minister, Stephen Morgan, has launched a formal inquiry into the delay, which could also affect QE’s sister ship HMS Prince of Wales.
This comes nearly three years after the contract to build the Crowsnest radar system was announced in Portsmouth, Hampshire.
At the time, then Defence Minister Harriett Baldwin said: ‘Crowsnest will provide a vital intelligence, surveillance and tracking system for our new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, capable of detecting any potential threats at sea.’
A 2017 report by the National Audit Office rated the project as ‘amber’, meaning successful delivery ‘appeared feasible’ but that ‘significant issues’ already existed.
Aerospace developer Lockheed Martin has insisted that any development tests are ‘designed to iron out potential problems with cutting-edge systems’ before entering service.
A spokesperson said: ‘We are confident that the Merlin Mk2 helicopter with Crowsnest will be available to support the first operational deployment of HMS Queen Elizabeth.’ (Source: News Now/Daily Mail)
18 Jan 20. Indra to chair Eurocae working group developing standards for counter drone systems. Indra has been appointed chair of the new Eurocae working group (WG-115) tasked with developing standards that will support the safe and harmonized implementation of anti-drone systems in airports and other environments. Indra’s Jorge Munir El Malek is tasked with this role. The European Organization for Civil Aviation Equipment (Eurocae) – the European standards agency – launched WG-115 in December 2019 at a meeting attended by 44 experts from 36 organizations, including the European Commission, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and Eurocontrol. Airports, navigation service providers, as well as other actors involved in operations safety, seek to implement effective systems to deal with this threat, so that drones can be detected and prevented from flying near their facilities without authorization. Eurocae will work to offer common guidelines for the requirements and characteristics such systems must meet. This is intended to ensure that a common frame of reference is available that enables security and interoperability of the highest level.
During the launch meeting, it was also announced that the American Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) recently took the decision to create a new committee (SC-238) focused on countering drones (Counter-UAS) that will work together with Eurocae to produce standardized documents by the two organizations. With this same objective, the group will maintain close collaboration with other international entities such as NATO and the European Defense Agency (EDA).
The new group will carry out its activities during 2020 and 2021, with the objective of preparing three reference documents: the definition of the operational concept linked to this type of systems (C-UAS), the specification of performance requirements for non-cooperative UAS detection, and the specification of interoperability requirements with existing systems, such as Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control System (A-SMGCS) of airports.
The anti-drone systems are integrated by sensors of different types that enable them to detect the presence of very small aircraft several kilometers away, identify them and take several countermeasures to prevent their access to the areas protected by those systems. These are complex systems that must operate without affecting airport equipment or aircraft. For more information visit:
www.eurocae.net (Source: www.unmannedairspace.info)
17 Jan 20. Dynamic Global Strategies provides counter drone protection for convoys. Dynamic Global Strategies has launched a multi-function electronic warfare (EW) system as a single-box solution to counter the threats posed by drones and remote-controlled improvised explosive devices (RCIEDs) for convoys and military users. The V6000T system offers 360-degree gapless full dome jamming coverage with a range of up to 2km and capability to defeat drone swarms. It is also designed to provide protection against RCIEDs and prevent remote radio detonation of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by jamming all-known RCIED triggering frequencies across the RF spectrum of 20-6000MHz. V6000T is fully programmable, with each jamming module providing focused RCIED and drone jamming capability within a specific region of the RF spectrum.
Dynamic Global Strategies reports its first order for a small number of V6000T vehicle-mounted counter drone and RCIED systems by the Department of Defense of a western country. While the revenue from the order remains confidential, the order is for evaluation towards a potential larger purchase order.
For more information visit:
www.usdgs.com (Source: www.unmannedairspace.info)
16 Jan 20. IronVision trialled on Challenger 2 Streetfighter II. The IronVision situational awareness system has been trialled on a modified Challenger 2 Streetfighter II for the first time, according to Elbit Systems. The trials were conducted in early December 2019 and began with familiarisation for the crew at the UK’s Copehill Down urban operations facility on Salisbury Plain, before a demonstration on 5 December in the presence of senior officials, including representatives of the Field Army and the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).
The trials were a continuation of the first Streetfighter, which was initiated in December 2018 as an experiment by the Royal Tank Regiment to modify a Challenger 2 main battle tank (MBT) for urban operations, Elbit stated on 14 January.
A UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesperson told Jane’s, “Project Streetfighter was aimed at adding modifications to the current Challenger 2 [CR2] to optimise it for urban operations. The three main focuses of these modifications are lethality, situational awareness, and infantry-tank co-operation.” The spokesperson added that the trials were supported by British Army headquarters.
Elbit stated that the IronVision integration was part of the situational awareness upgrade, adding that it had been working with the UK to integrate the system since initial trials in January 2019. IronVision gives MBT operators 360° vision around the vehicle with zero latency, the company said, indicating this would greatly improve the survivability of the tank crew.
The MoD spokesperson explained that the modifications to CR2 Streetfighter II also included heavy machine guns, and a launcher for an anti-tank guided missile (ATGW) was fitted to the roof of the turret of one vehicle. An improved communications system was installed to aid the IronVision situational awareness suite, and the stowage was modified by adjusting the rear oil drum to provide space for external storage or a tool rack for an urban assault kit. (Source: Jane’s)
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Blighter® Surveillance Systems (BSS) is a UK-based electronic-scanning radar and sensor solution provider delivering an integrated multi-sensor package to systems integrators comprising the Blighter electronic-scanning radars, cameras, thermal imagers, trackers and software solutions. Blighter radars combine patented solid-state Passive Electronic Scanning Array (PESA) technology with advanced Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) and Doppler processing to provide a robust and persistent surveillance capability. Blighter Surveillance Systems is a Plextek Group company, a leading British design house and technology innovator, and is based at Great Chesterford on the outskirts of Cambridge, England.
The Blighter electronic-scanning (e-scan) FMCW Doppler ground surveillance radar (GSR) is a unique patented product that provides robust intruder detection capabilities under the most difficult terrain and weather conditions. With no mechanical moving parts and 100% solid-state design, the Blighter radar family of products are extremely reliable and robust and require no routine maintenance for five years. The Blighter radar can operate over land and water rapidly searching for intruders as small a crawling person, kayaks and even low-flying objects. In its long-range modes the Blighter radar can rapidly scan an area in excess of 3,000 km² to ensure that intruders are detected, identified and intercepted before they reach critical areas.
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