In preparation for our Military Radar conference we have asked speaker Wing Commander Kevin Walton to deliver a snap shot of the tasks and purposes of the Joint Defence and Offshore Windfarm Mitigation Task Force. This piece is a great first reading for anyone interested in NJORD programme’s background.

With new threats appearing in the military domain, now more than ever there is a re-emphasis on the importance of radar and tracking. These new threats can be either to small, too fast or too stealthy for the technologies of the previous generation and this has lent itself to the modernization call. In this Article Maxime Bagnoud, Senior Project Manager at armasuisse, covers the latest trends concerning military radar. This includes:

• Multi-Mission Capabilities
• Detection of Low, Slow and Small (LSS) Targets
• Detection of High-Speed Targets
  

The Joint Forum is co-located with three events: Full Spectrum Air Defence, Directed Energy Systems and Military Radar and is Europe’s only international joint forum to cover all elements of air defence. This Attendee List showcases high-level attendees and industry experts that will be in attendance across the forum.

Defence IQ’s 2023 Military Radar Conference brings together senior leaders from the military, industry and academia all of whom are experts in their fields. The conference will address a wide range of debates including the small UAV threat, countering the menace of ballistic missile, and operating in increasingly contested and congested electromagnetic environments. This year's event promises a real learning opportunity through extended networking and engagement opportunities with peers and technical experts from across the world.

The advent of stealth technology and the invasion of Ukraine, as well as the march towards the multidomain battlefield, has called for several radar and c2 modernisation programmes. The Military Radar market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.1%. Chiefly driven by the US efforts and the UK Air Defence Recapitalisation programmes. This report covers programmes from:

• Australia
• Canada
• France
• Germany
• Saudi Arabia
• South Korea
• United Kingdom
• United States
  

In this exclusive interview conducted ahead of this year’s Military Radar Conference, Maxime Bagnoud, Senior Programme Manager, Armasuisse, shares his insight on the potential applications of 3D Phased Array Radar for the military, and the challenges that this poses. 

Download the interview on the right >>

Download the interview to read Maxime’s answers to the following questions:

• How would you see 3D Phased Array Radar fit into military applications? 
• What are the main advantages of this type of radar for military purposes? What elements need to be taken into consideration in order for militaries to use 3D Phased Array Radar for their operations?
• Are there any lessons learned from successful practical applications of 3D Phased Array Radar for military purposes?
• Could you please explain the main advantages and disadvantages of these radars for the military: Diagonal planar array, Trapezoidal array, Curved surface array

Here is a preview of the interview:

Defence IQ: What are the main advantages of this type of radar for military purposes? What elements need to be taken into consideration in order for militaries to use 3D Phased Array Radar for their operations?

Maxime Bagnoud: The main benefit of electronic scanning is the flexibility it gives us for beam scheduling, steering and forming. Of course, some basic radar design parameters (like antenna size, carrier frequency, peak power, etc.) lead to physical limits, which determine the range of possible applications of a certain design. However, the flexibility given by a software-designed beam forming and transmission allows leveraging the potential of a particular hardware design to the greatest extent. To give a few examples beyond the traditional search vs. track missions, one can use a CRAM detection radar as a short- to mid-range air surveillance system. A CRAM detection radar is originally optimised for a large number of small RCS targets, so that it can be very efficient against a drone swarm, but it could also be re-designed against other target types by...

What is the place of Airborne Early Warning in fifth generation and multi-domain operations when it comes to the defence of North American airspace? That is what Mr Brian ‘Bear’ Lihani, Deputy Chief, Aerospace Warning Branch, HQ NORAD is trying to answer in this exclusive interview with Defence IQ conducted ahead of this year’s Military Radar conference.

Download the interview on the right >>

Download this interview to learn more about:

• The Airborne Early Warning capabilities currently used at HQ NORAD
• How they fit into fifth generation and multi-domain operations to meet new threats
• The challenges NORAD faces in sustaining Airborne Early Warning capability in the future
• NORAD’s plans for Airborne Early Warning capability in regards to airspace management

At this year’s Military Radar conference, Mr Brian ‘Bear’ Lihani will be co-leading a workshop on the future of Airborne Early Warning systems with Dr Thomas Withington Electronic Warfare, Radar and Military Communications Specialist.

Principles of Modern Radar: Advanced Techniques is a professional reference for practicing engineers, including Joseph R. Guerci, that provides a stepping stone to advanced practice with in-depth discussions of the most commonly used advanced techniques for radar design. It will also serve advanced radar academic and training courses with a complete set of problems for students as well as solutions for instructors. This book provides an introduction to advanced radar methods available, spanning the gamut of the most exciting radar capabilities, from exotic waveforms, to ultra-high resolution 2D and 3D imaging methods, complex adaptive inteference cancellation, multi-target tracking in dense scenarios and more.

Drones pose an ongoing security threat in both the military and civilian  sector, as they are undetectable by radar systems in a congested airspace. While near-misses are recurrent, it is only a matter of time before a serious incident occur, which could prove disastrous. Defence IQ wanted to delve deeper into the reality of countering drones for the radar sector and asked Jens Lehmann, Senior Air Traffic Controller at the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations and speaker at Military Radar 2018 to give his exclusive insight on the matter, from the current lack of technical solutions to the need to address this issue globally.

The current major procurement operation in radar, the SENSR programme, is deemed to entirely renovate the US radar network, from surveillance to air safety and weather radar applications. Capable of meeting the requirements of all four agencies taking part in the project - NORAD, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration -, it will use a combination of new technologies and existing systems from across industry. Ahead of the upcoming Military Radar conference, we had the opportunity to interview Brian Lihani, Deputy Chief of the Aerospace Warning Branch at NORAD and speaker at the event, on the factors, goals and timescale of the SENSR programme. 

Thomas Withington provides this overview of the key technological developments in the field of ground-based air surveillance radars, with a look at emerging threats and the latest national programmes receiving new military investment. Military Radar 2016 will assess the capabilities available in the coming years and offer vital insight to military operators.

“Working with the customer is essential. Through customers, industry can evaluate what is needed and develop products to meet customer’s  expectations.” 

The customers in question? The world’s militaries. Brian Lihani is the Chief of the Radar Warning Branch at NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) HQ,  a binational and combined organisation co-led by the United States and Canada. The NORAD Agreement establishes three primary missions for NORAD: they are Aerospace Warning, Aerospace Control, and Maritime Warning for North America.

In this article, Defence IQ speaks with Brian Lihani in order to explain how a “system-of-systems” approach to radar development is helping NORAD to patrol the skies and "outpace the threat".