Northrop Grumman has completed the integration of a General Atomics APY-8 Lynx synthetic aperture radar/moving target indicator (SAR/MTI)on the rotary-wing Fire Scout unmanned air vehicle as part of a demonstration programme for the UK Watchkeeper intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance competition. Flight testing will demonstrate the SAR's integration with the Fire Scout's electro-optical, infrared and laser designator/rangefinder payload. Flight tests are to start at the US Navy's NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, trials centre later this month. The Fire Scout has been equipped with the radar, an independent GPS-satellite navigation system and an SAR/MTI interface. The latter allows the radar payload to be controlled through the UAV's tactical datalink with minimal modification to other systems, says Northrop Grumman. The US company is competing with Thales for the Watchkeeper contract.
Source: Flight International
