RANGER R8SS radar designed as a man-portable and medium range surveillance radar to support forward deployed units
FLIR Systems has unveiled its latest air and ground unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) surveillance radar at the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC) in Tampa, Florida on 22 May.
Speaking to MONCh at the event, FLIR Systems’ Director of Marketing for surveillance, Adam DeAngelis, explained how the RANGER R8SS radar had been designed as a man-portable and medium range surveillance radar to support forward deployed units.
With a 180-degree field of view, the electronically scanned radar is capable of identifying vehicle-sized targets at a range out to 6.5 kilometres. With a tilt angle of 45-degrees, the radar can also identify and track up to 500 individual targets, he added.
Additionally, FLIR Systems has unveiled a Three-Dimensional (3D) variant of the radar, ideally suited counter-UAV missions with the additional integration of software.
According to Mr. DeAngelis, the 3D variant is capable of identifying slow and low moving UAVs while also filtering out bird detections to avoid false alarms.
“The R8SS-3D can monitor the coverage area four times per second, running 24/7, detecting all ground and aerial threats in virtually any climate, day and night,” he explained. “Compact and lightweight, it fits in a backpack, draws only 135 W, while costing much than its vehicle-sized counterparts.”
The radar can detect “micro UAV” targets out to a range of 1.2km with multiple scan mode options including fixed sector, alternating sector and continuous scan, it was added.
FLIR Systems also used SOFIC to unveil its RECON V UltraLite multispectral imager, which has the ability to be integrated with the Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK) software currently being employed by special operations forces around the world, including US Special Operations Command components
The UltraLite variant can be used for surveillance/reconnaissance missions as well as force protection and forward observation.
Andrew White
