ROME -- Leonardo has announced that its AESA radar technology will be onboard the new Saab GlobalEye Swing Role Surveillance System (SRSS) platform, which was unveiled last week in a ceremony in Linköping, Sweden. Leonardo's radar, a Seaspray, will allow the SRSS to conduct surveillance using a variety of advanced modes, enhancing the platform's ability to detect targets.
Seaspray is an AESA radar (standing for Active Electronically Scanned Array, also known as "EScan"), which means that instead of the radar physically pointing its antenna at a target, a matrix of miniature radar modules are used to steer the beam electronically. The radars can also perform multiple tasks simultaneously, for example carrying out maritime surveillance while at the same time monitoring the weather on the aircraft's flight path.
Leonardo says that because of the company's high level of expertise in this technology area, its Seaspray and Osprey families of surveillance radars are able to combine high performance with ultra-competitive levels of reliability and cost of ownership, as well as being easy to install and operate. The company's multi-mode AESA surveillance radars have been sold to 30 countries worldwide.
The Seaspray 7500E has seen service with the US Coast Guard, while the Seaspray 7000E equips the UK Armed Forces' AW159 Wildcat helicopters, the Seaspray 7300E equips the Italian Air Force's ATR-72s and the Seaspray 5000E was recently selected for the Bangladeshi Navy to conduct anti-smuggling and anti-pollution missions. Leonardo's Osprey AESA radar is on-board Norway's new Leonardo AW101 search and rescue helicopters, which have now started to be delivered, and was also recently selected by the US Navy to equip its new MQ-9C Fire Scout unmanned helicopters. Its AESA surveillance radars offer air-to-air and air-to-ground capabilities with a variety of advanced modes including small target detection capability.
