Radar Sensing Through Walls Can Save Lives
This post is also available in: 
עברית (Hebrew)
First responders and army units often confront situations where they suspect that someone is hiding in a house but are unable to find him without entering the place.
A special radar that can see through walls allows police to see what’s happening behind walls where armed and dangerous suspects might be hiding. The device uses Doppler radar technology to “see” and sense motion of possible combatants hiding behind walls.
The RANGE-R radar is a highly sensitive handheld radar system designed to detect and measure the distance to moving and near-stationary personnel through walls constructed of common building materials. Designed by L3 CyTerra to increase situation awareness in urban environments for its users, RANGE-R provides vital intelligence necessary to safely undertake a variety of law enforcement and search and rescue operations.
According to the company’s website, the system’s applications include:
Police / SWAT — Determine the presence and location of assailants or hostages in a building;
Search & Rescue — Locate injured people inside buildings;
Firefighters — Quickly determine whether people are trapped in a building.
The patented stepped frequency continuous wave (SFCW) radar technology and proprietary target detection algorithms enable RANGE-R to operate as a highly sensitive Doppler motion detector. Advanced packaging design results in the smallest, lightest through wall sensor available today.
With near immediate analysis and results in seconds, RANGE-R provides first responders with critical information that may make the difference between life and death.
Another “thru-wall sensing” device also made by L3 CyTerra, called EMMDAR (Electro-Magnetic Motion Detection And Ranging), uses electromagnetic waves instead of the Doppler technology.
Today’s soldiers are faced with asymmetric warfare tactics that require more sophisticated means to locate and engage enemy combatants. As the battlefield spreads to urban areas, soldiers must increase their situation awareness to protect themselves from ambushes, suicide bombers and other potential threats.
EMMDAR provides the modern soldier with the operational advantage of increased preparedness when entering buildings that have potential hostile enemies, thus ensuring elevated mission success rates and the ability to save lives.
L-3’s EMMDAR is a lightweight handheld radar system designed to detect people through walls. In seconds, EMMDAR informs the user of the presence of moving or near-stationary personnel and the distance, or range, to the person.
