Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) subsidiary Elta Systems has unveiled a radar targeting pod (RTP) that will allow strike aircraft to simultaneously acquire high-resolution synthetic aperture radar and ground moving target indication images.
Elta director of marketing and sales Igo Licht says the dual-mode system can perform long-range, wide area surveillance and reconnaissance tasks, and detect and classify ground targets. "This system makes the sensor-to-shooter loop very small," he says.
Flight trials have been conducted using IAI's Boeing 737 testbed and an Israeli air force Lockheed Martin F-16. According to Elta, the RTP does not interfere with a fighter's fire control radar because the new system operates in a higher frequency. One sensor can also be used to supply data to a number of aircraft operating in the same area, it adds.
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Elta says the design has drawn interest from a number of air forces, and expects to sign its first production order for the system this year.
Source: Flight International
