Foliage-penetrating reconnaissance radar to support counter-terrorism operations
NewsFebruary 24, 2012
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A foliage-penetrating radar designed by Lockheed Martin engineers will be deployed to the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) for counter-terrorism as well as disaster relief and humanitarian missions.
The Tactical Reconnaissance and Counter-Concealment-Enabled Radar (TRACER) is able to detect buried, camouflaged, or concealed objects. The light-weight systems is a low-frequency synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) that can provide real-time, tactical ground imagery.
For the SOUTHCOM mission, TRACER will operate on a U.S. Army C12 aircraft.
TRACER is a replacement for Lockheed Martin’s operationally proven foliage penetration (FOPEN) system. TRACER retained all the abilities of FOPEN, which uses an advanced detection capability to suppress background clutter. The dual band (VHF/UHF) capability improves target discovery over different terrain and concealment scenarios to reveal mobile and stationary target positions.
Four qualified TRACER systems are available for deployment on manned or unmanned platforms. TRACER was developed for the U.S. Army’s Intelligence and Information Warfare Directorate, based at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md.
