Blighter to show surveillance radars at World Defense Show

Image courtesy Blighter

Blighter Surveillance Systems is targeting further sales of its border security and base protection radars in the Middle East through  the World Defense Show 2026, on a stand which will be part of the UK pavilion with the ADS Group.

Blighter’s ITAR-free, low-power, long-range ground surveillance radars provide covert, all-weather detection of people, vehicles and near-ground aerial threats at ranges of up to 32 kilometres, making them well-suited for persistent border surveillance and remote base protection. 

“The Middle East is a very important market for Blighter and we are keen to build on some recent major contract successes in the region,” said James Long, Blighter’s CEO. “Our solid-state radars are well suited to remote operation along national borders providing uninterrupted 24/7 surveillance in all weather conditions.”

According to Blighter, the company’s willingness to facilitate technology transfer and in-country manufacture of its radars to support local economies has been an important factor in forging long-term partnerships and helping to secure major defence and homeland security contracts across the region.  

Iain Walsh, Blighter’s newly appointed sales director, said: “Having lived and worked in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for many years, I am very aware of the intent of Saudi Vision 2030 and the ambition and capabilities of the Saudi people.

“As a company, we are committed to establishing long term and fruitful partnerships with local defence companies and integrators in order to achieve our goal to become the radar supplier of choice for border security in the region.”

The biennial World Defense Show is taking place at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center. In 2024, the event hosted 773 exhibitors, welcomed 441 official delegations from 116 countries, attracted 106,000 trade visitors and facilitated 26 billion Saudi Riyals in deals.

Blighter’s commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) product portfolio includes 2D, 3D, and 4D radars and powerful software for the configuration, control and viewing of multiple systems. Featuring Low-Probability-of-Intercept (LPI) waveforms, Blighter radars are inherently covert and built for robust fixed and mobile operation. 

Blighter radars are used by the UK Ministry of Defence for forward operating base (FOB) protection, the South Korean Army for border surveillance along the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), by the United States Air Force for drone detection, by Five Eyes and NATO customers for deployment on their mobile surveillance and armoured vehicles and the UK’s major airports for perimeter protection.