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The company is set to test its passive radar technology aboard drone platforms.
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Silentium Defence has announced plans to trial integration of its disruptive surveillance sensors for situational awareness into airborne platforms, with initial testing to target small to medium drones and unmanned aerial systems (UAS).
The trials aim to identify whether the size, weight, and power advantages of passive radar technology can extend survivability and range of unmanned airborne ISR platforms and improve the quality of surveillance data generated.
Silentium is expected to work with existing drone and UAS platform providers and customers to trial static and on-the-move deployments of its airborne passive radar systems.
According to Silentium Defence CEO Dr James Palmer, the existing ISR capabilities of small to medium UAS, which leverage active radar technology, produce power and payload constraints.
“Passive radar overcomes both these barriers and exploits megawatts of existing energy in the environment to provide greater range and performance without highlighting the drone or user’s presence,” Dr Palmer said.
“Our sensors are cost effective, light weight and more power efficient, which makes them easy to scale across operations and integrate with payloads, even on small format drones and UAS.
“Deployed independently or as part of a meshed network, UAS with integrated passive radar are more versatile and multi-purpose, providing covert situational awareness to inform the ISR picture, and counter-drone capability to protect people and assets simultaneously.”
Passive radar technology benefits have already been demonstrated across the maritime, ground-based air, and space surveillance sectors, with more than $15 million in contracts awarded with the Australian Defence Force and commercial organisations.
Silentium is eyeing supporting for major ISR programs like the JP 129 program and the future P-8 and AEW&C upgrades.
