Synthetic Aperture Radar Successfully Integrated on the Fire Scout

Released on Monday, August 11, 2003

The Northrop-Grumman corporation announced that Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) has been successfully integrated on the US Navy/USMC RQ-8A Fire Scout Vertical TakeOff and Landing (VTOL) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV).

The Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload has been added to existing electro-optical, infrared sensor and laser designator / rangefinder payloads. The SAR system can also work as a Moving Target Indicator (MTI) which is a very valuable asset in modern warfare.

During flight test, Northrop-Grumman demonstrated SAR payload compatibility with vibration of a rotary wing UAV, as well as data relaying between sensor payload and ground control station. The new payload will enable Fire Scout to better perform tactical long range, wide area search, surveillance, and target location in all weather conditions, day and night.