PARIS AIR SHOW - Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) was recently awarded a total of $32 million in contracts to supply subsidiary ELTA Systems' maritime patrol radar (MPR) to two unnamed foreign customers.
IAI states that to date, 250 EL/M-2022 MPR systems have been sold to customers in over 25 countries worldwide. The radar is currently operated on a variety of platforms, including Airbus Military C-295s and C-235s, Bombardier Dash-8s, Dornier 228s, Eurocopter AS-365 Panthers, IAI Heron 1s, and P-3s.
IAI seeks to continually improve the radar's performance, introducing new modes and operational enhancements. The latest version, the EL/M-2022A(V3) radar, provides detection, tracking, classification, and identification of maritime and airborne targets in high sea states and in high-density environments. The radar can provide full 360° azimuth and sector-mode operation (depending on installation) from an under-fuselage-mounted or nose- and tail- mounted antenna. The radar detects targets from periscope size and enables classification of maritime targets through range signature, Inverse SAR (ISAR), and Classification SAR (CSAR) processing techniques, and also has the ability to further classify ISAR images by using an ISAR Classification Library. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mode provides high-resolution images of the ground's surface for detailed examination of coastal structures such as piers, harbors, industrial installations, or airfields.
By partnering with Exelis for the bid, IAI/ELTA's EL/M-2022 radar has recently received the A/N designation APY-11, and been installed on the U.S. Coast Guard HC-130J long-range surveillance aircraft. The HC-130Js were first delivered in 2009, and Exelis was recently awarded a $6.5 million contract for additional radars, reflecting the Coast Guard's continued interest in the system.
Nissim Hadas, IAI's corporate vice president and president of ELTA Systems, said, "As missions worldwide continue to grow and become more demanding, we'll continue to adapt our radar to evolving operational requirements."
In response to the growing operational requirements, IAI/ELTA says that it is adding new modes of operation such as basic pollution detection, iceberg monitoring, and advanced classification modes.
