ADME Conference: Balloon-Mounted Radar
This post is also available in: 
עברית (Hebrew)
World militaries are very familiar with ground and airborne radars. A relatively new type of radar is carried as a payload, installed under floating surveillance balloons – Aerostats – and capable of detecting targets at very long ranges.
One of the most advanced products of this type is an Elta radar, ELM 2083, designed for early detection of aerial platforms at long ranges: Fighter jets, unmanned vehicles, helicopters and other aircraft.
The balloon-mounted radar has been presented today at the ADME Conference in Tel Aviv – Air Defense in the Modern Era – organized by INSS and the iHLS news website.
IHLS – Israel Homeland Security
Eran Karni, of Elta’s (IAI) Air Defense Directorate, explained that the radar is mounted on a balloon capable of remaining in flight for 30 days at a time, at an altitude of around 5 kilometers. It’s tethered to the ground, carrying a payload containing the radar. ELM 2083 is based on Green Pine radar technologies, developed by Elta.
Eran Karni: “This is a long range radar – up to 200 nautical miles. This phased array radar’s antenna rotates very quickly, twice the rate of ground radars. This means the radar scans continuously, overcoming any interference from ground cover since it’s suspended in the air. Clouds don’t affect it and the information is transmitted to a ground control station. The main advantage of this radar is the combination of mechanical rotation, electronic scanning and continuous activity – all three combined vastly improve detection rates.”
The balloon-mounted radar system has been operational for a few years now, successfully competing against manufacturers from around the world.
