Press Release
BAE Systems purchases Blighter portable radar for trials
Plextek radar to be used in ground-based sensor systems
Cambridge, 30 January 2006: Plextek has announced that BAE Systems
Integrated System Technologies (Insyte) has purchased a Blighter radar
for evaluation and trial purposes. The radar will be integrated with
Insyte's Command and Control system. Blighter is a man-portable system
that makes radar an affordable option for security systems. It is designed
for numerous 'homeland security' applications including area intrusion
monitoring and border surveillance.
Insyte, which focuses on meeting the demands of the rapidly evolving
market in defence, homeland security and complex, mission critical solutions,
has evaluated the radar in a series of trials and experiments, with
extremely encouraging results. During the trials, simultaneous operation
of multiple Blighter units was also successfully demonstrated, showing
no mutual interference. Blighter is now being put through a series of
evaluation tests, including a coastal surveillance trial.
The Blighter 200 series was developed following extensive market research
that identified the need for a low-cost, covert, movement detection
system that could be networked with other sensors including cameras
and Asset Management systems. It is the only product of its kind in
its price range in the marketplace, offering an affordable solution
to high performance security systems that have traditionally relied
on cameras and thermal imagers.
Blighter uses an electronic beam-scanning antenna to simultaneously
detect moving targets at ranges between 20 m and 8 km without physically
having to rotate. Consisting of a single unit containing the integrated
electronics and e-scan antennas, the entire radar with in-built GPS
and compass can be carried and set up by one person. Any external 12V
or 24V power source and wireless enabled laptop or PDA can be used to
operate the radar in almost any land-based location, as well as in situations
where rapid re-deployment is critical. Various power saving modes allow
it to 'sleep' between scans, thus extending battery life. For fixed
installations, such as airfield perimeter monitoring, the radar can
be networked with other radars and camera systems, providing a 24-hour
automatic surveillance system. A novel user-display screen indicates
when movement has been detected by placing a distinct marker at the
target co-ordinates superimposed on a map of the area. The radar can
provide additional assistance with identification by providing the target
Doppler signature as an audio output.
Further information:
Johanna Hughes, Plextek Ltd, London Road, Great Chesterford, Essex CB10
1NY.
Tel: +44 (0)1799 533200. Fax: +44 (0)1799 533201. Email: jlh@plextek.co.uk
Website: www.plextek.com
Press information:
Gerald Cross, EML, The Albany Boathouse, Lower Ham Road, Kingston, KT2
5BB.
Tel: +44 (0)20 8408 8000. Email: plextek@eml.com
Issued 30/01/2006
