NRL demonstrates distributed radar concepts
A FlexDAR installation. (Photo: Raytheon.)
Developed by the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) with the help of Raytheon, the Flexible Distributed Radar Array (FlexDAR) system is said to offer improvements in detection, tracking and electronic protection.
Following the installation of FlexDAR earlier this year, the NRL has begun demonstrating nodes at its Chesapeake Bay Detachment and the NASA Wallops Flight Facility.
The NRL developed FlexDAR to demonstrate capabilities enabled by every-element digital beamforming (EEDBF) antenna arrays, network coordination and time synchronisation.
EEDBF is seen as providing a ‘leap’ forward in antenna capabilities that, when combined with the elements above, enables novel advanced radar capabilities, including the ability to perform several simultaneous missions with a single array.
The NRL says FlexDAR demonstrates performance improvements across detection range, tracking accuracy and electronic protection when fielded as a distributed
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