Skip to main content

High-tech radar maps defeat camouflage

FORT BELVOIR, Va: To the untrained eye, U.S. Army radar-generated maps may look like a bird's-eye view of a city at night; however, these images contain useful intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information that reveal concealed objects by penetrating foliage, buildings and some terrain while overcoming camouflage, concealment and deception techniques.


These maps, which highlight boundaries not visible to traditional electronic sensors, are made possible by the U.S. Army's Tactical Reconnaissance and Counter Concealment Enabled Radar, or TRACER. Developed by the Research, Development and Engineering Command's communications and electronics center, TRACER is a mid-range, long wavelength synthetic aperture radar system that provides all-weather persistent surveillance.
Due to its decreased size, weight and power consumption compared to the predecessor Foliage Penetration Radar program, or FOPEN, TRACER operates on manned and unmanned platforms and produces images on-board in less than five minutes.
To introduce TRACER's capabilities to Army and Department of Defense technology influencers and to emphasize the technology's ability to penetrate more than just foliage, the Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center hosted a VIP presentation May 19, at its Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate facilities at Fort Belvoir, Va.
The predicted challenge of presenting TRACER to the Army at large is demystifying the notion that TRACER and FOPEN are only for foliage penetration.
"In some ways, we are a victim of our own success since FOPEN stands for foliage penetration but does more than just foliage penetration; it can reveal various areas of interest that may be camouflaged or obstructed and has applicability in multiple areas of operation," said Dan Kuderna, chief, CERDEC Intelligence and Information Warfare Directorate Radar and Combat Identification Division.
The TRACER program began in April 2007, but FOPEN has been in the field since the late-90s and is the result of a joint Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, U.S. Air Force and Army Advanced Technology Development program. FOPEN was originally used to demonstrate low frequency radar's ability to penetrate, but its proven success allowed it to be used for a variety of missions, said Kuderna.
As a follow-on to FOPEN, the TRACER system can be tailored to specific missions by providing a variety of SAR images including strip maps and spotlight and circle images.
Participants had a first-hand look at the TRACER payload integrated on a C-12 platform and posters of TRACER-generated images.
"Overall, the presentation went very well," Kuderna said. "VIPs got a positive impression, and there was serious interest in bringing the capability forward."
This fall, TRACER will be tested on NASA's unmanned Predator-B (IKHANA), and later on Air Warrior.



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pakistani JF-17 A Thunder OR A Blunder

Pakistan has witnessed new defense acquisitions in this decade than any other, and in the center of it all is the new fighter which was designed by China with partial funding from Pakistan. It is formally known as JF-17 Thunder. When the fighter was in development, Pakistani online communities were jumping with excitement comparing it with its arch rival India’s modern combatants Su-30MKI, Mig-29S & Mirage-2000H. There were claims of it featuring western Radars and long range missiles, & Chinese ordering some due to its superior capabilities. But the reality is far from it. China having spent significant amount of money into a fighter which it is never going to use, most probably forced Pakistan to accept its avionics to offset some its development costs. Chinese who are known for their self reliance first and quality next, are further downgrading JF-17s capabilities with their poorly copy-pirated avionics. Along with their dubious weapons, any chance of JF
48 comments
READ MORE

Mossad & CIA Committed 9-11: Italian President Francesco Cossiga

Source: http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/archive.cgi?read=114778 Former Italian President Francesco Cossiga, who revealed the existence of Operation Gladio, has told Italy’s oldest and most widely read newspaper that the 9-11 terrorist attacks were run by the CIA and Mossad, and that this was common knowledge among global intelligence agencies. The evidence that Mossad planned 911 using Arab patsies is overwhelming; Mossad were caught filming the attack from Liberty Park and then later said on Israeli TV that they were sent there to document (they along with nearly 200 Mossad were rounded up and sent back to Israeli in the weeks following the attack, preventing the FBI from questioning them). Only 5 Israeli's died in the WTC attack; 3 on the airplanes and 2 in the buildings. It is a fact unexplainable by Zionists apologists that Idigo, and Israeli messaging service sent a warning in Hebrew worldwide that a terror attack would happen in a few hours on the da
4 comments
READ MORE

India Planned Attack On Pak Navy Mehran Base To Kill Chinese Engineers

The terrorist attack on Karachi's Mehran Naval Station on May 22 was conceived and launched by India with the primary objective of killing the Chinese engineers present there, a Pakistani newspaper has claimed, citing 'informed sources'. Four to six Taliban terrorists had entered PNS Mehran on May 22, destroying two maritime surveillance aircraft and killing ten military personnel during their 17-hour siege of the naval air base. "India is the only country in the region that feels troubled by the Pakistan Navy, which had awfully beaten the Indian Navy in Operation Dwarka of 1965. Since then, it has been an earnest desire of India to harm the Pakistan Navy but it was perhaps not possible on the battle front, hence it struck the PNS Mehran," The News quoted sources as saying.
23 comments
READ MORE