Radar

February 15, 2008 British Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre Thatcham has put three of the car industry’s most hyped collision prevention technologies to the test – and they’ve emerged with flying colors. The Volvo City Safety, Mercedes Distronic Plus, and Honda CMBS use radar systems to mitigate and prevent low speed collisions – which, as a category, make up 75% of all motor accidents.  Read More

August 31, 2007 There is perhaps no graver reminder of the indiscriminate cruelty of modern warfare than the landmine. It's estimated that over 100 million landmines remain concealed around the world and with the aim of improving detection techniques, researchers from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands are developing a ultra-wideband radar system that they hope will make the process safer and cheaper.  Read More

December 7, 2006 Lockheed Martin recently accomplished a first for unmanned aerial systems (UAS), demonstrating that high-resolution, broad-area imaging from a Miniaturized Synthetic Aperture Radar (MiniSAR) could effectively be delivered by a UAS into the hands of tactical unit commanders, regardless of smoke, dust, heavy rain or night-time conditions. During a successful field exercise at the Minnesota National Guard test facility on October 19, a small SkySpirit UAS carrying a Sandia-developed MiniSAR sensor soared to nearly 3,000 feet and, in near real-time, became the first UAS to successfully transmit four-inch resolution SAR imagery. During four different mission demonstrations, the SkySpirit transmitted MiniSAR images capturing actionable data in two operational modes: focused area circle-mapping and broad area strip-mapping. Multiple imaging passes were post-processed to demonstrate coherent change detection used to identify changes over time.  Read More

April 21, 2006 In terms of sheer firepower, there’s nothing that can match the U.S. Air Force's fleet of 67 B-1B long-range bomber aircraft. Carrying the largest payload of both guided and unguided weapons of any aircraft, the multi-mission B-1 can rapidly deliver massive quantities of precision and non-precision weapons, anywhere in the world at Mach 1.2. Each aircraft originally cost US$283 million, but the attention, fettling and long term improvement program costs would dwarf that figure. Each aircraft weighs is capable of carrying around 1.5 times its own weight in bombs for a total take-off weight of 216,634 kilograms. An aircraft commander, copilot, and two weapon systems officers are responsible for delivering a lethal cocktail mixed from the contents of its massive reconfigurable weapons bays. It can pack 24 GBU-31 GPS-aided JDAM (both Mk-84 general purpose bombs and BLU-109 penetrating bombs) or 24 Mk-84 2,000-pound general purpose bombs; 8 Mk-85 naval mines; 84 Mk-82 500-pound general purpose bombs; 84 Mk-62 500-pound naval mines; 30 CBU-87, -89, -97 cluster munitions; 30 CBU-103/104/105 WCMD, 24 AGM-158 JASSMs or 12 AGM-154 JSOWs. The latest US$180 million Reliability and Maintainability Improvement Program (RMIP) upgrade will make the fire control of this arsenal more accurate  Read More

January 15, 2006 There was once a time when a concrete wall on the battlefield meant that a soldier was both safe from bullets and invisible to the enemy. Thanks to the coming XM25 Advanced Airburst Weapon System and DARPA’s latest invention, the “Radar Scope”, the concrete wall has now been rendered useless on both counts. The new "Radar Scope" offers warfighters the very same x-ray vision with which SuperMan captivated a generation of youngsters – it can see through walls. The Radar Scope is a light-weight, low-cost, through-wall personnel detector that uses stepped-frequency radar to detect subtle changes in Doppler signature of the returned signal. Put simply, it is a motion detector that can see through walls.  Read More

January 13, 2006 The flight test programme for the U.K. Airborne Stand-Off Radar (ASTOR) programme is progressing well in the U.S. and the U.K. As of December, 2005, a/c #1 (based in Greenville, Texas) was well into its series of check flights while, in the U.K., a/c #2 had completed its first phase of flight testing. According to the test team, the DMR in a/c #1 was producing good quality imagery on only its second operational check flight. ASTOR is a ground surveillance system designed to provide information regarding the deployment and movement of enemy forces. It uses state-of-the-art radar technology to obtain high resolution imagery of static features and can also identify and track moving vehicles. Imagery gathered is transmitted in near-real-time to a network of distributed Ground Stations deployed with front-line forces. Images can be displayed and analysed within the Ground Stations, ensuring that tactical commanders are aware of the latest developments on the ground. ASTOR will be a brand new capability for the UK Armed Forces and the most advanced system of its kind, anywhere in the world, when it enters service. It will be a vital force multiplier in the modern conflict where speed of battle is such that up-to-date information is crucial if troops are to be deployed effectively.  Read More

January 12, 2006 We just had to run this US Department of Defence image because it rates as remarkable on several counts. That’s the Norwegian heavy lift vessel MV Blue Marlin with a deck cargo of a Sea Based X-Band Radar entering Pearl Harbor a few days ago after completing a 15,000-mile journey from Corpus Christi, Texas. The Sea Based X-Band Radar is a combination of the world's largest phased array X-band radar carried aboard a mobile, ocean-going semi-submersible oil platform. The radar is capable of highly advanced, ballistic missile detection while discriminating a hostile warhead from decoys and countermeasures. The platform, which is much larger than it looks, will undergo minor modifications, maintenance and routine inspections in Pearl Harbor before completing its voyage to the Aleutian Islands. See inside for more pics, including one which will suddenly jolt your senses into just how gargantuan the subjects of this image are.  Read More

June 30, 2005 Researchers at the United States National Nuclear Security Administration’s Sandia National Laboratories flew what is probably the world’s smallest fine-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) recently, making real-time images from the 6-kilometer range with a resolution of four inches. It was a first for the 25-pound instrument that may soon be used for reconnaissance on near-model-airplane-sized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).  Read More