This Miniaturized Radar will Revolutionize European Capabilities
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In the future, enemy radars are likely to use technologies and software to make it harder to identify their signals and locate their source. A new miniaturized radar technology tested is four times as accurate as existing sensors at one-tenth the size.
Leonardo has successfully tested miniaturized radar warning receiver (RWR) technology as part of its ongoing work to support the UK’s Tempest project – the next generation combat air collaborative program involving the UK, Italy and Sweden.
Fitted to various military aircraft, such RWR sensors are used to sense the presence of enemy radars associated with combat aircraft or ground-based air defense systems and determine whether they are transmitting in surveillance or fire control modes.
The company said the technology had been demonstrated to the UK defense ministry and other partners from the Team Tempest industry consortium, of which Leonardo UK is a member alongside BAE Systems, missile manufacturer MBDA and Rolls-Royce.
The small size of the RWR system may make it possible to integrate the sensor into a multi-function array, several of which could be distributed around the aircraft to sense and track incoming threats.The company says such a system would be fully integrated with the Tempest’s forward-looking fire-control radar, although no details on that sensor have yet been revealed.
The UK defense ministry has made significant investments in research and development to support the Tempest project, which aims to deliver a cost-effective, next-generation combat aircraft in half the time required to develop the Eurofighter Typhoon, according to aviationweek.com.
Since the team Team Tempest was contracted to begin development work in 2018, Italy and Sweden have announced their intent to work with the UK on this project.
Leonardo’s UK role in the team is to develop Tempest’s sensor package and integrate these sensors into the platform’s mission system. The ambitious timescale for the Tempest project, which is working towards seeing a new aircraft in-service with the RAF in 2035, means that Leonardo in the UK is already hard at work developing some of the advanced technologies which will be needed to face the threats of the future, according to Leonardo website.
