Turning radars into high-speed data links

Raytheon Company and L-3 Communications are developing new technology that will make it possible for aircraft, ships and ground installations to exchange C4ISR data at high speeds by using the software-defined antennae of radar systems themselves to create high-bandwidth mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs).

The companies highlighted their collaboration at MILCOM this week. The technology could concievably be added as an upgrade to most synthetic aperture radar systems — such as those used by fighter and command and control aircraft, some umanned aerial vehicles, AEGIS-equipped naval vessels and ground radar systems.

Using L-3's software-defined modem technology, the reconfigured radar could transmit data at rates in the hundreds to thousands of megabits per second, either in a continuous connection or in pulses. The pulse mode would allow the aperture used for communications to still be available for radar scans.

The MANET technology could be used to deliver high-resolution radar and targeting data from, for example, a Global Hawk UAV or other unmanned or manned platform to a command post, AWACS aircraft or ship, providing over-the-horizon detection, surveillance and targeting information — without the need for additional communications systems which would consume space on the airborne platform.

Posted by Sean Gallagher on Nov 19, 2008 at 8:12 AM