IMSAR Develops High-Performance Synthetic Aperture Radars for UAVs

By Mike Ball / 20 Oct 2020
Follow UST

IMSAR, a leading developer of low-SWaP (size, weight and power) synthetic aperture radar systems for unmanned aerial vehicles, has partnered with Unmanned Systems Technology (“UST”) to demonstrate their expertise in this field. The ‘Gold’ profile highlights how their lightweight, compact radars can complement EO/IR and electronic warfare (EW) payloads and provide advanced geospatial intelligence capabilities in all weather conditions, day or night.

NSP-3 Synthetic Aperture RadarThe NSP-3 is an all-weather multi-mode SAR designed for land and maritime operations both during the day and at night. The low-SWaP system comprises two pods, with the antenna subsystem in one and the radar and processing electronics in the other. This allows the NSP-3 to be easily integrated with the antenna pod mounted externally and the electronics inside the fuselage, or with any custom mounting arrangement.

Requiring only power, ethernet, and a connection to a GPS antenna, the easy-to-operate NSP-3 can be controlled via IMSAR’s intuitive Lisa 3D Command and Control (C2) and Processing, Exploitation, and Dissemination (PED) software. A Radar Control API is also available for easy integration with third-party and custom-developed software.

NSP-5 Multi-Mode RadarThe NSP-5 is a multimode MTI (Moving Target Indicator) SAR designed to gather real-time actionable intelligence for tactical UAVs in both land and maritime environments. Built into a rugged weatherproof pod, the system can be attached via a quick-connect rail with blind mate connections, or with MIL-Spec 14” lug mounts. We can also design custom mounting solutions for a variety of platforms.

Requiring only power and ethernet, the easy-to-operate NSP-5 can be controlled via IMSAR’s intuitive Lisa 3D Command and Control (C2) and Processing, Exploitation, and Dissemination (PED) software. A Radar Control API is also available for easy integration with third-party and custom-developed software suites.

High-performance SARThe NSP-7 is an extended-range multi-mode SAR designed for larger UAVs. Capable of imaging at distances of up to 32 km at a 1 metre resolution, it provides high-performance intelligence-gathering capabilities during the day or at night under all weather conditions.

The NSP-7’s rugged weatherproof pod requires only power, ethernet and a connection to a GPS antenna, and can be attached with MIL-Spec 14” lug mounts or via an adapter plate to the pod’s strongback rail. IMSAR can also design custom integration solutions for specific UAVs. The NSP-7 can be paired with either an onboard Airborne Processing Server, or via a datalink to a Ground Processing Server, for real-time data processing. Radar data can also be stored on board the pod for post-mission processing.

ONESAR Miniature Synthetic Aperture RadarONESAR is a single-channel Ku- or X-band radar system designed to be integrated into small fixed-wing and multirotor UAS. With an extremely low SWaP profile, ONESAR features a mechanical gimbal and lightweight integrated Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and allows users to gather intelligence under a variety of conditions from almost any unmanned aircraft platform.

ONESAR can be easily operated via IMSAR’s intuitive Lisa 3D Command and Control (C2) and Processing, Exploitation, and Dissemination (PED) software. A Radar Control API can be used to integrate the system into custom-developed or third-party software with minimal effort.

Fully integrated mission planning softwareLisa 3D is a fully integrated software package that provides intuitive mission planning and data handling for multiple sensors. It allows operators to perform real-time analysis of data from radars, EO/IR payloads, vessel AIS and a variety of other sources and generate actionable intelligence for improved decision-making.

Drone operators can create detailed data collection plans for multiple sensors and modes, and use these to generate flight plans. Lisa 3D provides real-time tracking of sensors and monitoring of flight characteristics, and mission plans and collection modes can be dynamically altered on the fly. Lisa 3D supports a wide range of file types for import and export, and data products from multiple sensors can be easily viewed, annotated and marked.

To find out more about IMSAR and their high-performance SAR systems for UAVs, please visit their profile page:
https://www.unmannedsystemstechnology.com/company/imsar/

Posted by Mike Ball Mike Ball is our resident technical editor here at Unmanned Systems Technology. Combining his passion for teaching, advanced engineering and all things unmanned, Mike keeps a watchful eye over everything related to the unmanned technical sector. With over 10 years’ experience in the unmanned field and a degree in engineering, Mike’s been heading up our technical team here for the last 8 years. Connect & Contact