Fire Scout Gets Radar

Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems Sector has announced flight tests of a synthetic aperture radar/moving target indicator (SAR/MTI) system on the RQ-8A Fire Scout vertical takeoff and landing tactical unmanned air vehicle (VTUAV). The company-funded flight tests in June and July demonstrated the SAR/MTI radar in combination with the unmanned helicopter electro-optical and infrared sensors and a laser designator/rangefinder. The tests also showed that the SAR/MTI sensor is not degraded the vibration of a rotary wing UAV.

Nine demonstration flights at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland provided both 1-foot and 4-inch resolution SAR imagery and demonstrated good moving target indicator performance with a variety of targets.

General Atomics provided the SAR/MTI system for the Fire Scout demonstration. The next phase of the flight demonstration will evaluate the Northrop Grumman tactical UAV synthetic aperture radar (TUAVR) with less than 1 ft resolution and moving target indicator.

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