The Cambridge-based company said the radars will provide simultaneous ground, sea and air surveillance at ranges of up to 20 kilometres. As under the previous contract, the A800 radars will be deployed at fixed locations along the country’s borders and integrated onto army reconnaissance vehicles.
Army officials selected the A800 Mk 2 because of its multi-mode functionality. Blighter said the radar can simultaneously detect, classify and track ground, sea and air targets.
The company said low-altitude drones are a major challenge because of their small size, low radar cross section and ability to fly close to terrain. It said conventional air surveillance radars can struggle to detect such targets.
Blighter said its radars address this challenge through Ku-Band sensing, electronic-scanning array antennas, micro-Doppler signature analysis and clutter-suppression technologies. The company said the systems are effective against fast, low-flying targets including first-person view, fibre-optic and Shahed-type winged drones.
“We are delighted to have secured a follow-on contract for our A800 multi-mode radars from this military customer. Our radars will provide 24/7 all-weather protection against ground incursions and the growing threat of low-altitude drones that have caused such devastation in recent conflicts,” said James Long, Blighter’s CEO.
“Our ground-based radars excel in detecting low’n’fast targets including first person view (FPV), fibre-optic and fixed wing drones up to 20km away. We are proud to be one of only a handful of companies offering a sub-US$1m radar that can detect targets at speeds up to Mach 1!” Long said.
The contract also includes the supply of BlighterNexus AI-assisted software. The software will enable the radars to be integrated with the army’s command-and-control networks, operator interfaces and third-party sensors.
Blighter said the integration will deliver a unified display or common operating picture across multiple border regions. The company said this is intended to improve situational awareness for border surveillance operations.
The A800 Mk 2 combines electronic beam scanning, next-generation monopulse elevation measurement and target classification using micro-Doppler signature analysis. Blighter said the radar provides situational awareness in a low size, weight and power format.
The radar is also fitted with a Gigabit Ethernet interface for secure and encrypted data transfer. Blighter said its radars have been used for drone detection at UK and international airports, by the United States Air Force, at multinational forward-operating bases in the Middle East and in government and military counter-UAS systems.
Blighter supports international systems integrators in creating layered, multi-sensor surveillance systems and also supports localised manufacture. The company said more than 800 of its radars have been deployed in over 40 countries across defence, homeland security, critical national infrastructure and energy sectors.
