Recent EventsA Changing Scene The last decade has seen some significant advances in commercial maritime navigational radar (CMNR) not least with the introduction low probability of intercept (LPI) facilities employing complex waveforms and very low power outputs. Solid state solutions have also appeared The LPI approach has offered weekend sailors particular benefits where they can no longer be the recipients of radiation burns from radars on their cabin tops, although they can still get their heads knocked off by scanning arrays! Some companies, however, have seemingly resisted change, hanging onto high power magnetron outputs with improvements primarily if not only in terms of display technology. A friend has recently bought to my notice the number of changes suffered by the German STN Atlas radar company. Over the last 15 years virtually identical products have been produced variously carrying “STN”, “Atlas”, “SAM” or “Wärtsilä” on their antennas, representing the acquisitions and mergers that have occurred to this manufacturer over the period. It is noted with interest that some radar manufacturers are looking to diversify with an increasing array of modern technology at their fingertips. For example, the research institute of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation has developed a new ground penetrating radar (GPR) named as Eagle Eye-A. The Institute’s director Jiao Xialiang said the newly developed radar is capable of detecting soil diseases and pipelines as deep as six meters underground with a fast response and without harm to the environment. Eagle Eye-A has a detection accuracy rate of over 90% with a false alarm rate of less than 5%. (xinhuanews). Staying with China, The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has reported that China is building what appears to be an HF over the horizon radar (OTH) on Cuarteron Reef in the South China Sea. If this is correct, dependent upon the type of OTH radar it may give China a long range view of maritime traffic in the South China Sea area. But the very latest OTHR is shipborne. It depends upon one ship transmitting and three or more ships acting as receptors. Raytheon is reputed to have commissioned a similar type of shipborne radar in 2016 but neither country or their companies are revealing how their systems work. (South China Morning Post) Jacey Jan20 |