DSEi 2011: Cassidian unveils maritime radar

Cassidian today revealed the latest in its family of maritime surveillance and target acquisition radars at DSEi in London.

Addressing the media on 14 September, Cassidian's VP sales, sensors and electronic warfare Hansjorg Roschmann said the TRS-4D next-generation multifunction radar would equip German Navy F125 vessels in the next 24 months.

'The system is in full scale development and we already have our first customer. The key highlight is the availability and combination of mechanical rotation and electronic scanning in azimuth and elevation,' he explained.

Based on GalliumNitride and AESA technology, the radar provides both mechanical and electrical scanning. According to Cassidian, this is the first radar to make full use of the advantages of simultaneous multiple beams based on AESA technology.

According to Roschmann, the radar beam was able to pass over a target of interest before being deflected back to cover the subject a second time before awaiting its next pass.

'This is not available in simple rotating mechanical radars,' he added.

Capable of detecting targets down to 0.01m2, TRS-4D can detect a target in less than a second. This, Roschmann claimed, compared to some six seconds for other mechanical systems.

'We have a very fast track initiation and confirmation. This capability is leading to a totally new situation awareness because we can now detect more targets because we have advanced processing and logarithms technology available and a capability to detect very small targets,' he continued.

The radar can also be configured for protection of ports from various asymmetric threats such as fast attack craft by way of a 'hidden sector scan of high threat or high interest areas, Cassidian stated.

Roschmann concluded that it could also be used for SAR missions with its capability to detect single swimmers or rubber boats at sea.