All-weather ground mapping and surveillance capability 

At CANSEC 2019 in Ottawa, Canada, this week, Leonardo has announced that it signed a multi-million Euro contract with prime contractor QinetiQ to provide a number of PicoSAR Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA, also known as E-Scan) radars. 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.

QinetiQ was awarded a C$51 million contract to deliver unmanned aircraft systems (UAS, aka drones) that will drive enhanced situational awareness for the Canadian Armed Forces. Story here. The vertical take-off UAS will provide ISTAR services to the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, for both domestic and international operations. The system, based on the UMS Skeldar V-200 UAS, will be equipped with a number of sensors including the L-3 Wescam MX-8 and MX-10D electro-optic infrared (EO/IR) cameras.

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. 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.

Leonardo has worked closely with QinetiQ to ensure that the PicoSAR radar is the perfect fit for the needs of the Canadian Armed Forces.