Argentine company INVAP is developing two new families of radars for which it expects to have prototypes tested before the end of 2020.
The first of these is the RVT series of three portable radars for land and coastal surveillance, which have been designed for use mainly by infantry units but also other security forces and government agencies.
The three models offer ranges of 30, 50, and 80 km, according to the size of their antenna and transmitting power. Employing digital beamforming and multibeam technology, they are said to provide persistent surveillance to instantaneously detect and track very small and slow-moving targets with extremely low false alarm rates.
In Argentina they are expected to be used by infantry units and also to detect smugglers and drug traffickers along the country’s northern border.
The radars will be available in portable and fixed-installation versions and will offer a 90º field-of-view in fixed mode or full azimuthal coverage using a single unit when mechanically scanned. Their weight ranges from 15 to 45 kg and the first prototype is expected to be ready this year, with production to start in 2020.
INVAP’s other project is the RMF-200V: a tactical air-defence radar designed to be mounted on a light vehicle of which a prototype is expected to be ready in 2020. The system is a short-range (up to 100 km) active electronically scanned-array (AESA), 3D multirole radar with a compact design that weighs less than 250 kg. It will cover more than 70º in elevation and have a scan rate of less than a second, providing continuous tracking of targets, including slow-moving ones.
The company also stated it is working on an airborne surveillance radar, the prototype of which could be ready by 2021.
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