Predator B UAV To Get European ELINT System

Predator B UAV To Get European ELINT System

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An electronic intelligence (ELINT) sensor is being added to the Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper UAV. Maker General Atomics Aeronautical Systems announced a deal with Raytheon Deutschland to add its Advanced Radar Detection System (ARDS) in a pod that will be mounted on the UAV’s centerline.

According to AIN On Line, GA-ASI did not identify a customer for the modification. Linden Blue, the company’s chief executive officer, said that “ARDS will help map air defense radar threats in contested airspace from stand-off distances.” Andreas Radermacher, managing director of Raytheon Deutschland, said, “Predator B deploys our ARDS with significantly greater endurance at much lower cost per flight hour compared with other platforms.”

ARDS was designed and developed by Raytheon’s Germany subsidiary, which provided the emitter location system for the electronic combat version of the Tornado aircraft flown by the German and Italian air forces. ARDS is an all-European system with some modules produced in Spain and the UK. It provides wide-area, high-fidelity detection and direction-finding over land and sea, according to GA-ASI. Flight tests on the UAV are scheduled in the second half of next year, with deliveries possible in 2018.