When you think of military radar, you may think of active protection or other assertive methods of defense. But achieving comprehensive coverage with perimeter surveillance radar is just as important. It provides information sooner to assist warfighters with more informed decision-making.
What is 3D Perimeter Surveillance Radar?
3D perimeter surveillance radar allows warfighters to secure borders, coastlines, and other critical areas and infrastructures. These systems provide early warnings that potential threats have entered a secured area to keep soldiers safe. The surveillance coverage must also be flexible to support up to 360º angular coverage.
How Does 3D Perimeter Surveillance Radar Work?
3D perimeter surveillance radars are autonomous and require no operator. They alert warfighters to incoming threats by identifying people, vehicles, and other moving objects as they cross a pre-set barrier surrounding a building, country, or other secured area. New technologies allow these systems not only to show blips on the radars, but to show three-dimensional information about the threats that are present, such as their range, altitude, and velocity.
Threats to 3D Perimeter Surveillance
Because these radar systems operate as ground surveillance, the main threat to their accuracy is clutter. Clutter impacts the ability to consistently detect and track slow-moving objects or people.
Trees and greenery can be especially tricky because they allow threats to hide as they approach, but produce enough clutter to confuse radars. Depending on the sophistication of the system, 3D perimeter surveillance radar systems may only be able to give partial information about a threat. For example, it may not be able to determine the number of people or the exact size of the threat in question.
Using Radar Systems to Achieve Comprehensive 3D Perimeter Surveillance
There are a number of radar systems that can successfully secure a perimeter and provide three-dimensional information about relevant threats. Four of RADA USA’s systems can be deployed for 3D perimeter surveillance purposes: the eCHR, MHR, ieMHR, and exMHR. All are four-dimensional radars providing range, azimuth, elevation, and velocity target tracking.
RADA USA’s perimeter surveillance radar systems can support open system architectures and integrate with C4I (command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence) systems via a standard Ethernet interface. They can also operate standalone or as part of a larger system, either statically or mobily on a vehicle for missions on the go.
- Enhanced Compact Hemispheric Radar (eCHR): The eCHR offers superior short-range air defense in a low SWap form factor.
- Multi-Mission Hemispheric Radar (MHR): The MHR is known for its unparalleled versatility and offers short to mid-range coverage.
- Improved and Enhanced Multi-Mission Hemispheric Radar (ieMHR): The ieMHR offers similar capability to the MHR, but with extended range.
- Extended Multi-Mission Hemispheric Radar (exMHR): The exMHR provides increased accuracy for mid- to quasi-long-range coverage with an added fire control capability.