Intelligence professionals and military forces alike need to remain one step ahead of potential threats. That’s why BAE Systems has designed the new small size, weight, and power (SWaP) Multi-INT system to help allied forces quickly detect and track adversaries’ activities in real time. The new multi-function radar system integrates with airborne intelligence, gathering sensors that capture information simultaneously, giving analysts a complete picture of the situation around them.
“Our system links multiple sensors together, which gives analysts the ability to track, fuse, cross-cue, and holistically understand the data that’s been captured by each of the sensors within the system,” said John Kelly, director of Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Futures at BAE Systems. “Our Multi-INT system maximizes the warfighters’ collection intake by giving them the ability to detect across multiple sensing modalities, simultaneously. With this approach, the target can’t hide anywhere in the spectrum.”
Today, most intelligence collection provides big picture, national-level and theatre-level reports that primarily aid in longer term decision making. Data is gathered by different service elements or agencies, each operating larger, more expensive UAVs that typically have just one type of sensor. These platforms require dozens of personnel to operate the aircraft, and to analyze and distribute data.
“It’s a manual approach that is neither immediate nor cost effective,” said Kelly. “It also presents data in piecemeal fashion that fails to deliver the complete battlefield picture for troops at the tactical edge, when they need it. With BAE Systems’ new small SWaP Multi-INT system, we have solved that problem.”
The system integrates three sensor modalities into one. The first is a multi-function radar that provides all-weather imaging, change detection, and detection and tracking of movement on the battlefield. Radio Frequency emitter mapping – the second sensing modality – detects and locates any RF transmitters that a potential adversary might be using to communicate. Lastly, the system offers a compact daylight and infrared camera to collect and digitally fuse low light and thermal images.
Using these integrated capabilities, allied forces can understand the enemy’s physical, social, and radio frequency networks. This allows them to make use of data as needed and provides a nearly instantaneous picture of the situation.
The small SWaP Multi-INT systems are adaptable and can be integrated on a variety of platforms, ranging from small unmanned aerial vehicles to manned aircraft. With this flexibility, intelligence analysts and military forces can stay one step ahead of the enemy today – and in the years to come.