Echodyne Authorized for High-Accuracy Radar

Echodyne has received Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Authorization for its EchoShield radar, allowing it to be used for non-experimental purposes. 

Echodyne’s software-defined, multi-mission, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) radars are used for situational awareness by Defense, Government, and Critical Infrastructure customers, and as a navigational sensor by Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) and Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) markets.

While large, conventional radars are optimal for addressing traditional air defense threats like jets and missiles, demand is growing in security applications for compact, portable, attritable, high-performance radars to deal with contemporary threats, especially drones. 

The low cost and operational effectiveness of drones as weapons demonstrates the need for symmetry in Counter-UAS (CUAS) solutions. 

Echodyne’s radars are built on patented Metamaterials Electronic Scanning Array (MESA®) technology, breaking through to cost-effective electronically scanned array (ESA) radar, and creating solutions for mission-critical security applications, such as CUAS.

A medium-range, software-defined, pulse-Doppler, cognitive 4D radar, EchoShield intelligently searches a large, customizable Field of View (FoV) and tracks objects of interest with highly precise angular accuracy. 

Utilizing cognitive radar concepts to combine different waveforms, beam schedules, and other resources into user selectable mission sets, EchoShield tailors radar performance to user, location, and mission requirements.

Key features include:

• MESA Technology: Echodyne’s proprietary MESA radar is a breakthrough in advanced radar engineering, reportedly breaking price-performance barriers.
• Data-Fidelity: Data fidelity is increasingly important for detecting and identifying dynamic, inexpensive, and readily available off-the-shelf drones. Tracking objects with reliably precise angular accuracy in both azimuth and elevation, EchoShield excels in managing complex scenes, achieving tight locks on drone intruders, and directing other sensors and effectors.
• Seamless Integration: No sensor can stand alone, and all systems benefit from better foundational data from radar. To ease integration into systems of systems, EchoShield radars utilize industry-standard TCP/IP over Gigabit Ethernet with multiple rich-data output options and a suite of software tools to assist integration activities.
• Multimodal: Echodyne radars are designed to have the lowest size, weight, and power (SWaP) relative to performance of any comparable radar. EchoShield is designed to meet Fixed, Portable, and On-the-Move (OTM) requirements.

EchoShield is a core piece of a software-enhanced radar architecture, utilizing both on-radar software (firmware) and off-radar software to create high-fidelity situational awareness that ensures mission safety and success. 

EchoShield has been active in trials and early deployments, with reviewers reportedly citing accuracy and reliability as key differentiators to other radar options. 

“We are pleased to see such high demand for our EchoShield radar,” said Eben Frankenberg, CEO of Echodyne. “MESA allows us to design and build radars that deliver unprecedented performance in a commercial off the shelf package with unbeatable C-SWaP.”

“We have been working with Echodyne for many years,” said Al White, CEO of High Point Aerotechnologies. “Our business is designing intelligent Counter-UAS solutions for Defense and Government customers, and Echodyne’s radars have consistently topped the list for both accuracy and reliability. EchoShield sets a new mark in radar performance.”