The US Army Wants To Transform Soldiers Into Walking Radar Detectors

08:06 2/10/2020 - Πηγή: Armynow

The U.S. Army want to turn its soldiers into walking radar detectors.

The reason? Modern battlefields are bathed in radar beams that deprive U.S. infantry of concealment, even under cover of night and camouflage. But if those radars can be detected, then they can be evaded or evaded.

“In the modern operating theater the dismounted warfighter faces a network of

sensors searching from fixed and mobile ground and air platforms,” according to the Army’s research solicitation. “Ground Surveillance Radar (GSR) or Battlefield Surveillance Radar (BSR) are long range sensor threats that can identify and track ground movement over kilometer scale distances, posing a threat of the maneuverability, survivability and ultimately the lethality of dismounted units.”

Battlefield surveillance radars have ranges of up to 23 kilometers (14.2 miles), the Army noted. But giving a U.S. infantry squad the “ability to detect a GSR at a distance greater than its maximum range will turn the squad into a distributed sensor to locate advisory assets and take appropriate action.”

However, the problem is that American infantry are already groaning under the weight of weapons, body armor and equipment. Adding radar detection gear will add more strain to sore backs and knees.

Hence, the Army envisions the radar warning receiver “to be a low profile integrated part of the uniform, armor or kit rather than an additional item mounted on the warfighter. The design should consider options such as wearable antennas and flexible electronics.”

The system should be able to determine the angle from which the radar beam is coming, as well as the location of the emitter. The Army is focusing on detecting radar signals in the X- and Ku-bands, with the detector needing to distinguish those signals amid radio frequency clutter from the numerous transmissions that crisscross the battlefield.

“Output will integrate with the Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK), a government owned mapping application, for communicating with the soldier,” the Army said. “All members of a squad of 9 soldiers will have the receiver and will be networked through Bluetooth.” Data must also be relayed back to higher-level commanders.

Phase I of the project will demonstrate preliminary designs. Phase II will demonstrate a prototype ruggedized enough to operate in rain, dust, and fog amid temperatures ranging from 30 degrees below zero to 125 degrees Fahrenheit. Phase III will test the detector under field conditions.

Battlefield radars have been around since at least the 1960s, with American troops using them during the Vietnam War. “Our targets typically were within one to five hundred meters….and usually seemed to be squad size groups,” recalled one Vietnam radar operator. “I only know of one confirmed target destroyed. Most of the time I think that if the target was real, we accomplished our mission when the resultant fire scared the enemy away or interrupted their operations.”

Modern radars have become smaller and more digitized. For example, Thales’s Squire man-portable radar weighs about 40 pounds and has a range of up to 48 kilometers (30 miles).

The end result is that much like personal privacy in the Digital Age, it’s getting harder to remain undetected on the battlefield. Drones, radar and thermal cameras are removing the cloak of camouflage and concealment. And what can be seen can be destroyed.

Source: forbes.com

The post The US Army Wants To Transform Soldiers Into Walking Radar Detectors appeared first on ARMYNOW.NET.