IMSAR LLC recently participated in the Short/Vertical Takeoff & Landing (S/VTOL) Group 4+ Summit in Huntsville, Alabama, engaging with Army leadership and industry partners to discuss its radar solutions for future runway-independent Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).
The Army’s S/VTOL initiative aims to establish a new ecosystem of Group 4+ UAS capable of operating without traditional runways. These platforms are designed to deliver increased operational agility, supporting missions such as Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition (RSTA), precision strike, and enhanced survivability across all operational domains. To meet these requirements, the program necessitates radar systems capable of delivering both Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging and Moving Target Indicator (MTI) capabilities, core mission areas where IMSAR’s systems have demonstrated proven performance across multiple unmanned aircraft platforms.
During the summit, IMSAR was invited by the Army’s Program Manager for UAS to participate in one-on-one industry engagement sessions. The company highlighted its family of low-SWaP, multi-mode radar systems, including the NSP-5 through NSP-8. The NSP radar family provides scalable capability for Group 3 through Group 5 UAS platforms, combining high-performance SAR and MTI capabilities with the compact size, weight, and power requirements essential for modern unmanned aircraft integration.
Jim Etheridge, Director of Business Development at IMSAR, commented, “Programs like S/VTOL represent a major shift toward more agile and survivable unmanned aircraft systems. Our radar systems were built from the ground up to support these types of platforms, delivering advanced sensing capabilities in a compact, low-SWaP architecture that integrates seamlessly into MOSA-based systems.”
The NSP radar family enables all-weather, day and night intelligence collection through a range of advanced modes, including SAR, Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI), Maritime Moving Target Indicator (MMTI), and Inverse SAR (ISAR). These capabilities allow Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to rapidly integrate advanced radar sensing into next-generation platforms supporting distributed sensing missions and multi-domain operations.
As a developer of compact, multi-mode radar systems, IMSAR continues to collaborate with aircraft manufacturers, integrators, and government stakeholders to align its technology with evolving requirements across the S/VTOL ecosystem and other next-generation UAS programs.
OEM partners interested in discussing radar integration for S/VTOL platforms are encouraged to connect with IMSAR to explore collaboration opportunities.
