General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. has just announced that it has completed the successful integration and operational testing of its Lynx Multi-mode Radar.
The system is a next-generation capability that integrates synthetic aperture radar (SAR), ground moving target indicator (GMTI), and dismount moving target indicator (DMTI) radar.
The testing was conducted in May by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/Customs and Border Protection (CBP) out of its National Air Security Operations Center in Grand Forks, N.D. That center uses Predators to patrol the Canada-U.S. border.
CBP continues to use an earlier Lynx variant in day-to-day border search operations aboard its Predator B fleet. The company has heralded the tests as a break-through.
“Utilizing the Moving Target Indicator mode for detecting people walking or slow-moving vehicles from an RPA is a cutting-edge capability,” Linden Blue, president, Reconnaissance Systems Group, for General Atomics, said in a statement. “The real paradigm shift is DMTI, which allows agents to detect extremely slow-movers, ranging from walkers or people on bicycles.”
CBP operates Predators in North Dakota and along the southern border with Mexico.
In 2009 my Ottawa Citizen colleague Ian MacLeod wrote about how Predator Bs were being tested in eastern Ontario. The idea was to see whether the UAV sensors were suited to detecting terrorists, drug runners and other criminal elements on the waterways and shorelines that separate New York state and Canada between Buffalo and Cornwall.
In those tests, the Predator took off from Fort Drum, the U.S. army base near Watertown, New York. In his article, MacLeod noted that at one point, the craft streamed live video to Washington and select members of the U.S. Congress, Department of Homeland Security and police and other law enforcement officials.
In April of this year Defence Watch published a report from the Associated Press news service about the U.S. government’s expansion of its unmanned aerial vehicle coverage of the U.S.-Canadian border.
In testimony before a U.S. Senate panel that month, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said northern border surveillance using unmanned aerial aircraft had expanded, with the current coverage stretching from North Dakota to eastern Washington state. This was a slight expansion as the aircraft appeared to be previously focused on North Dakota. No mention was made of using Predators along the New York State-Ontario border.
The Predators can stay airborne for up to 20 hours at a time, according to U.S. Customs department
In the latest tests in North Dakota, General Atomics said the Lynx Multi-mode Radar expanded “agent situational awareness significantly, enabling them to detect, locate, and improve high geo-location accuracy of a much wider range of moving targets.” It also enhances the system’s ability to cross-cue Predator B’s other onboard sensors to pursue high-value targets and allows for improved target tracking, the firm added.
The DMTI mode allowed agents to detect both very slow-moving vehicles and personnel moving on the ground.
Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: David Pugliese
The system is a next-generation capability that integrates synthetic aperture radar (SAR), ground moving target indicator (GMTI), and dismount moving target indicator (DMTI) radar.
The testing was conducted in May by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/Customs and Border Protection (CBP) out of its National Air Security Operations Center in Grand Forks, N.D. That center uses Predators to patrol the Canada-U.S. border.
CBP continues to use an earlier Lynx variant in day-to-day border search operations aboard its Predator B fleet. The company has heralded the tests as a break-through.
“Utilizing the Moving Target Indicator mode for detecting people walking or slow-moving vehicles from an RPA is a cutting-edge capability,” Linden Blue, president, Reconnaissance Systems Group, for General Atomics, said in a statement. “The real paradigm shift is DMTI, which allows agents to detect extremely slow-movers, ranging from walkers or people on bicycles.”
CBP operates Predators in North Dakota and along the southern border with Mexico.
In 2009 my Ottawa Citizen colleague Ian MacLeod wrote about how Predator Bs were being tested in eastern Ontario. The idea was to see whether the UAV sensors were suited to detecting terrorists, drug runners and other criminal elements on the waterways and shorelines that separate New York state and Canada between Buffalo and Cornwall.
In those tests, the Predator took off from Fort Drum, the U.S. army base near Watertown, New York. In his article, MacLeod noted that at one point, the craft streamed live video to Washington and select members of the U.S. Congress, Department of Homeland Security and police and other law enforcement officials.
In April of this year Defence Watch published a report from the Associated Press news service about the U.S. government’s expansion of its unmanned aerial vehicle coverage of the U.S.-Canadian border.
In testimony before a U.S. Senate panel that month, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said northern border surveillance using unmanned aerial aircraft had expanded, with the current coverage stretching from North Dakota to eastern Washington state. This was a slight expansion as the aircraft appeared to be previously focused on North Dakota. No mention was made of using Predators along the New York State-Ontario border.
The Predators can stay airborne for up to 20 hours at a time, according to U.S. Customs department
In the latest tests in North Dakota, General Atomics said the Lynx Multi-mode Radar expanded “agent situational awareness significantly, enabling them to detect, locate, and improve high geo-location accuracy of a much wider range of moving targets.” It also enhances the system’s ability to cross-cue Predator B’s other onboard sensors to pursue high-value targets and allows for improved target tracking, the firm added.
The DMTI mode allowed agents to detect both very slow-moving vehicles and personnel moving on the ground.
Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: David Pugliese
No comments:
Post a Comment