Electronic intelligence sensor in development with Raytheon
NewsApril 20, 2021
GERMANY. Raytheon Deutschland GmbH, a subsidiary of Raytheon Intelligence & Space, has developed a digital, passive electronic intelligence (ELINT) sensor called Advanced Radar Detection System (ARDS), that is designed to detect radar emissions on the ground without emitting any signal itself.
Military aviators describe ELINT as the practice of gathering information about adversary radars including their location and what type of signal they emit in an effort to avoid or defeat them.
According to officials, the German-built ARDS is ruggedized and designed to work on both manned and unmanned aircraft, as well as ground or sea-based platforms. It can autonomously scan for emitters across the electromagnetic spectrum, without operator input, though operators have the option to control the system.
For ELINT missions, the system can continuously save large amounts of data on a solid-state recorder, then upload it for post-mission analysis. ARDS can also interface with an aircraft’s downlink system to transmit the data to ground control stations in real time.
