Enhanced Long-Endurance Surface Search Demonstrated with Group III UAS

By Mike Ball / 13 Aug 2021
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Vanilla UAS with IMSAR radar

IMSAR, in conjunction with Vanilla Unmanned, has successfully demonstrated enhanced long-endurance surface-search using a Group III UAS (unmanned aerial system) equipped with both radar and Electro-Optical/Infra-Red (EO/IR). The Vanilla UAS conducted a maritime beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) mission, lasting over 20 hours, during a U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet (USNAVSO/FOURTHFLT) Fleet Experiment, landing with an additional 28 hours of fuel remaining.

IMSAR’s NSP-5 radar system was installed as an external payload on Vanilla’s wing pylons, with a WESCAM MX-8 equipped as a retractable nose bay payload. The mission represents the longest continuous flight for IMSAR’s radar system, and IMSAR’s first occasion of command & control and transmission of real-time data products over satellite communications (SATCOM).

Vanilla’s UAS demonstrated long endurance, BVLOS, multi-sensor payload capability addresses limitations with current Group III UAS that provide only EO/IR sensing solutions at limited endurance and range. During the flight, real time radar products, EO/IR imagery, and Command & Control (C2) data were passed via SATCOM to operators at Naval Air Station Key West. The combination of sensors illustrated the power of wide-area detecting and tracking with radar, cross-cueing sensors, and subsequent identification with EO/IR.

IMSAR’s NSP-5 is a program of record-based, all-weather, day and night multi-mode radar. Operating from Vanilla UAS, the NSP-5 demonstrated real-time SAR imaging, Maritime Moving Target Indication (MMTI) and Inverse SAR (ISAR). The multi-mode NSP-5 is also capable of Coherent Change Detection (CCD), and Ground and Dismount MTI (GMTI/DMTI) over land. Together, the Vanilla and NSP-5 present a highly capable persistent ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) solution.

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