Blighter enhances e-scan radar
The new features will enable its radar to protect complex coastlines from intruders such as smugglers, pirates, illegals and terrorists using jet skis, kayaks and rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) at ranges of up to 10km away. The Blighter radar is now able to detect and locate these small and slow moving targets day and night and in almost all weather conditions, in rough seas, heavy rain or dense fog.
Mark Radford, CEO of Blighter Surveillance Systems, said: "Protecting coastlines from illegal intruders is a growing concern for countries the world over. Our Blighter coastal security radar's unique algorithms and Doppler signal processing enables it to detect the small and uncooperative targets that traditional coastal surveillance radars such as vessel traffic systems and maritime radars are simply not designed for."
The Blighter low power solid state passive electronic scanning array radar features frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) transmission technology combined with sensitive Doppler target detection. The sea clutter filter enables the Doppler signal processing unit to filter out sea wave clutter returns in both velocity and amplitude.
Above: 3D Doppler View of Sea Clutter Detection with Separate Target.
"As colour is to CCTV images, Doppler is to radar detection. It adds a third dimension to target detection so that not only are targets identified in azimuth (compass bearing) and range but they are also discriminated by Doppler velocity, the relative speed of each target," added Mark Radford. "The sea clutter filter automatically classifies the sea clutter and removes it and uses a non-moving target detection filter to extract static targets from the Doppler filter enabling it to detect static boats, buoys and other features in a coastal or port environment."
The Blighter radar is about the size of a large brief case and uses a fraction of the power of other radars – it transmits only 4 Watts of power and consumes just 100 Watts allowing operation via solar panels and easy installation in difficult areas to reach such as rocky or inaccessible coastal regions. The radar's low data bandwidth requirement also allows remote operation over narrowband wireless links or satellite communication systems.
Like most radars, Blighter integrates with a range of electro-optic camera systems – and other situation awareness sensors – and these elements are controlled through the BlighterView HMI command and control (C2) software platform. BlighterView can also integrate with AIS transponders, PIDS systems, fusion and target/video tracking elements.
Blighter Surveillance Systems delivers an integrated multi-sensor package to systems integrators comprising the Blighter radars plus cameras, thermal imagers, trackers and software solutions. Its ITAR-free systems are used worldwide in commercial, government and defence markets in area and asset protection for national border security, homeland security, critical infrastructure protection such as airports, coastal surveillance, and in military applications.
Blighter radar solutions are used at Heathrow and other international airports, by the British Army for force protection, and in numerous asset protection and border security applications, including monitoring the Korean Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), a buffer zone which runs 250 km across the Korean peninsula and separates North and South Korea.
