Jane Edwards
General Atomics’ aeronautical systems business plans to equip the EagleEye radar with an active electronically scanned array antenna and related software to increase the radar system’s range and provide additional mode enhancements.
EagleEye is a multimode radar that comes with a maritime wide area search mode, can perform moving target indication and can conduct visual tracking of moving targets through its full motion video capability called Video SAR, General Atomics said Wednesday.
Jeff Hettick, vice president of agile mission systems at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., said in a statement that the company expects the AESA antenna to increase by more than twofold the EagleEye radar’s range.
“The increased range and optimized multi-mode performance of the radar are perfectly tailored to provide deep sensing capability in Multi-Domain Operations,” Hettick noted. “That will allow the aircraft to operate well outside Weapons Effects Zone of most threat systems adding a layer of survivability supporting the Stand-Off survivability with Stand-In effects of long-range sensors. This is a key component of the Gray Eagle 25M Unmanned Aircraft System being developed for the U.S. Army.”
GA-ASI intends to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to enhance EagleEye’s target detection range and expects to have a working lab prototype of the AESA antenna, which will be a “drop-in” hardware upgrade to the radar, by the end of 2024.
The company plans to perform flight tests in 2025 and then conduct operational demonstrations of the antenna on the Gray Eagle 25M UAS.
