NEWS - Just a few months in the life of Blighter

Plextek's electronics design services include:FPGA design, ESCAN Radar, MMIC design, GPRS design, Communications product design, Microwave design Defence electronics, Electronic product design, RF design, DSP design, Telemetry system, System Integration,Communications system design, Due diligence

Press Release

Just a few months in the life of Blighter

In just a few months, Blighter, the low cost, ultra portable electronic-scan radar being designed and developed by Plextek, has travelled from a successful concept launch at the Paris Air Show to going live at DSEi the major defence show held in London at the end of last year. After all this, Plextek has now been nominated in the Cambridge Evening News 2003 Business Excellence Awards (http://w3.cambridge-news.co.uk/businessawards/vtinnov.asp).

Cited in the Innovation of the Year category, Blighter uses the latest communications technology for remote monitoring. The radar is controlled from a laptop computer or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), over a wireless network from a safer position. It can identify targets of interest and can be used by several remote users to selectively monitor separate areas of interest simultaneously. By its use of already available commercial technology, rather than developing completely new technology for the purpose, Plextek has ensured this will be an affordable solution for the defence and other markets, and also to achieve remarkable development timescales.

Apart from its use on the battlefield, Blighter has many other surveillance applications such as border control, monitoring restricted areas, for example airside at airports and any situation where personnel or vehicle movements need to be detected remotely.

Colin Smithers, Managing Director, and co-founder of the 15 year old independent electronics design consultancy in Great Chesterford said, "The tech recession forced us into becoming our own VC and to developing ideas internally - Blighter is part of the result. We are naturally delighted to have been recognised for the fruits of these labours. This nomination reflects in no small way the work of our 100-strong staff from reception to the client-facing consultants. The radar is just one of our innovations, but it is a perfect example of the use of our wide skill base involving RF, network communications, DSP, software, antennas, mechanical design, manufacturing and manufacturing test. We have already received keen interest from the market and are tailoring the product for specific customers."

Full details on Blighter are available on our website, www.plextek.com

Issued 29/01/2004