Subscribe Now FREE

Canadian Armed Forces’ drones to carry Leonardo E-Scan radar

Posted 4 June 2019 · Add Comment

Leonardo announced it has signed a contract with prime contractor QinetiQ to provide a number of PicoSAR Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA, also known as ‘E-Scan’) radars for the Canadian Armed Forces’ new unmanned surveillance drones.

The radars will equip the new unmanned Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) aircraft that have been ordered by the Canadian Armed Forces.

Designed and manufactured by Leonardo in Edinburgh, UK, PicoSAR will be employed by Canadian military units at sea and on land, for both domestic and international operations.

PicoSAR offers high-performance E-scan surveillance capabilities in an extremely compact package. It is ideally suited for installation aboard the Canadian Armed Forces new system, which is based on the lightweight UMS Skeldar V-200 Unmanned Aerial System (UAS).

With PicoSAR on-board, operators will benefit from a range of modes including high resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging and Ground Moving Target Indication (GMTI). Together, these will deliver an effective all-weather ground mapping and surveillance capability for ISTAR missions.

The contract is an example of Leonardo’s open approach to partnerships. As well as equipping its own platforms, Leonardo offers its advanced airborne electronics directly to end users and also works with a wide range of industrial partners to provide sensor capabilities for third party platforms. In this case, Leonardo has worked closely with QinetiQ to ensure that the PicoSAR radar meets the needs of the Canadian Armed Forces.

PicoSAR is an extremely flexible system and has flown on more than 10 different aircraft. The radar has been flown in Oceania, the Far East, the Middle East, Europe, North Africa, North America and South America and has been acquired by more than 10 customers. PicoSAR is part of a wider portfolio of airborne radars that include best-in-class M-Scan (mechanically-scanning) and E-scan (electronically scanning) systems for both surveillance and fire-control missions.

* required field

Post a comment

Aerobility launches Armchair Airshow

Scheduled for 20th June and free to view, the Armchair Airshow 2020, organised by disabled flying charity Aerobility, promises live pilot interviews, walk-throughs and never before seen air-display and in-cockpit footage.

Kaman delivers 80,000th F-35 rear fuselage packer to BAE Systems

Kaman UK has delivered its 80,000th rear fuselage packer to BAE Systems for its F-35 manufacturing programme.

Kromek awarded $5.2m DARPA contract extension

County Durham headquartered Kromek has been awarded an extension to its contract by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), an agency of the US Department of Defense, to detect and identify pathogens in an urban

Dstl pioneers future submarine command space

Dstl analysis is optimising information flow in the design of command space in future submarines to optimise information flow.

UK commits new funding to combat space debris

The UK Government has committed funding for innovative solutions to tackle the growing problem of potentially hazardous space debris.

Aircraft deliveries hit record low for April

Global aircraft orders and deliveries in April were heavily affected in the crisis caused by the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

See us at

Google+

The views expressed are not necessarily those of ADS or its members. No responsibility or liability is accepted by ADS, the editorial team or the publisher for any loss occasioned to any person, legal or physical, acting or refraining from action as a result of any statement, fact, figure, expression of opinion or belief contained within this site.