BAE Systems to integrate Echodyne's EchoShield radar into its BATS counter-drone system
BAE Systems has selected the EchoShield radar from US firm Echodyne for its BATS counter-drone platform. The radar will supply precise airspace data for detecting and tracking drone threats.
Defence company BAE Systems has announced that it will integrate EchoShield, a radar made by Washington State-based Echodyne, into the BAE Systems Anti Threat System (BATS), its counter-drone platform. The radar is meant to give BATS accurate, persistent airspace data so it can detect, classify and track potential drone threats before coordinating a suitable response.
The announcement follows live trials of BATS in Scotland, which BAE Systems recently completed. The demonstrations showed the system combining multiple sensors and effectors under a single command-and-control architecture, allowing operators to identify and respond to evolving drone threats in real time. EchoShield was chosen as one of the sensors supporting this open, interoperable architecture.
What BATS is
BATS is a modular, software-defined counter-uncrewed aircraft system (C-UAS) platform. Through a secure data core, it links different sensors, intelligence feeds, command-and-control tools and countermeasures. The aim is to bring the whole counter-drone process into one system, instead of requiring operators to work across separate platforms.
What the radar adds
EchoShield uses Echodyne's proprietary metamaterials electronically scanned array (MESA) radar technology. It provides persistent tracks, advanced threat classification and precise location data, which BATS uses to build a fuller picture of the airspace. Radars must keep reliable tracks even when drones perform complex manoeuvres. The radar's relatively compact size, weight and power needs make it suitable for fixed installations, rapidly deployable systems and mobile platforms.
Louise Heywood, head of strategy at BAE Systems Digital Intelligence & Land, said BATS uses this information to make rapid decisions and connect operators with the most appropriate countermeasure while keeping humans in control. Echodyne CEO Eben Frankenberg stressed that reliable sensor data is fundamental to effective decisions against increasingly sophisticated drone threats.
The BATS architecture is designed to scale from protecting individual sites to wider-area coverage. It can also integrate with existing and future air defence systems, making it relevant to military installations, government facilities and critical infrastructure.
Echodyne says its radars are already incorporated into hundreds of counter-UAS systems worldwide. The company recently opened an advanced manufacturing facility in Washington State and plans to eventually scale capacity to more than 30,000 radars a year.
