LCS Creates Opportunities For Radar Makers

Photo: Paul McLeary

Apr 13, 2011 By Michael Fabey AviationWeek.com

With a different coastal mission, the U.S. Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) fleet needed a set of radars with requirements much different than those developed domestically over the years. To fulfill this need, the Navy and prime contractors for the new ships turned to international radars that had already been developed for littoral missions in other parts of the globe, opening markets for international companies. The use of international radars has also created a need for partnerships between those companies and domestic businesses to capture the U.S. military contracts. “They didn’t have the radar they needed in the U.S. inventory,” says Erik Smith, general manager for defense and security systems at Sensis, a radar systems company located in East Syracuse, N.Y. Sensis is now the U.S. representative for Saab Electronic Defense Systems, which has developed and deployed the sea-based version of its agile multi-beam radar to meet the requirements for the Independence-version LCS offered by the contracting team led by Austal USA of Mobile, Ala. The other team, led by Lockheed Martin, tapped EADS North America’s TRS-3D radar for its LCS ships. Founded in 1985 by former radar experts at GE Aerospace, Sensis specializes in radar and surveillance systems, with primary focus on civil aviation and defense. The company has spent much of its military history as a radar contractor for the U.S. Marine Corps and is now looking to expand its reach into the other services. The Saab partnership offers Sensis the opportunity to become a bigger player in the naval market, especially with the growing need for littoral intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, as is promised with the LCS, Smith says. “Around the world, ship-based littoral surveillance is a growing mission,” he says. And the partnership helps Saab grow its U.S. defense footprint too. The Sensis-Saab radar purports to accurately detect small, agile targets at high altitudes; rocket, artillery and mortar targets; as well as small, highly maneuverable surface targets in severe clutter — just the kind of threats seen in coastal environments where the LCS is designed to deploy. The radar offers air and surface surveillance and tracking, target identification for weapon systems and high-resolution splash spotting. “This radar has been proven to work on global naval platforms for years,” Smith says. Through its partnership with Saab, Sensis is able to provide the Navy with U.S.-based access to the radar equipment, software and all associated radar system intellectual property. In addition, Sensis provides all U.S.-specific adaptations as needed by the Navy and any test and integration services.