Mid-Range tactical Air defense 3D Radar

Defense and security

The RPA-170M is a state-of-the-art 3D mid-range air defense mobile radar operating in the L / D band.

It is a highly mobile system designed for rapid deployment with minimal staffing. With state-of- the-art technology, it has an excellent performance in a wide range of operational scenarios, even under the most adverse clutter and interference conditions.

The RPA-170M is capable of assuming a key role in air defense systems, exhibiting remarkable performance in electronic warfare environments. In peacetime, its ability to detect and track low- speed, low-altitude targets makes it an ideal tool to contribute to national defense and homeland security, border control, and counter-drug operations. The integration of the secondary interrogator, make it also useful as a backup sensor for civil air traffic control.

Derived from the long-range version RPA-240T, currently operated by the Argentine Air Force, the RPA-170M uses the same modules (LRUs) as its predecessor, this heritage guarantees the proven great reliability and performance characteristics, while benefiting from common life cycle management and logistics support.

RPA-170M

General description

The RPA-170M employs an electronic pencil beam elevation scanning phased array antenna, and digital techniques for both waveform generation, beamforming, and signal processing. Its software-defined operation provides the system flexibility, to adapt to different functional requirements in the most varied operating environments. In particular, the specially designed low elevation beams show excellent performance in the detection of small low altitude aircrafts.

The multi-beam low side-lobe level antenna is driven by multiple Solid State Transmit/Receive Modules (MTR). This natural redundancy, together with the automatic reconfiguration capability, guarantees high availability and graceful degradation in case of failures.

The radar has an advanced set of Electronic Counter-Counter Measures (CCME) that allows it to maintain excellent performance for target detection, even in complex electronic warfare scenarios. For this, it has dedicated antennas, receivers and processors, which together with specific processing algorithms, allow it to counter a wide variety of electronic attacks.

Radar configuration, control, diagnosis, and operation are performed through simple and intuitive graphical interfaces. This drastically accelerates the personnel learning curve, minimizing the time and costs of new units deployement and commissioning.

The complete system, which includes two operating and communication stations, is contained in the space of two 20-foot ISO cabins that can be transported by any vehicle with standard fixings. All the necessary equipment to enter into operation can be transported in only one C-130.

Deployment and commissioning takes less than 30 minutes, with a staff of two minimally trained people. It can be operated locally, constituting in itself a complete command, control and communications center (C3), or remotely and practically unattended, being able to integrate into multi-sensor command systems. In any case, the operational configuration can be adapted according to the user’s requirement via datalink. Flexible interfaces, including Asterix standard data output, provide seamless integration to multi-sensor command and control systems.

The RPA-170M is a system designed and manufactured entirely at INVAP facilities located in San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina.

INVAP ensures logistics support and low-cost after-sales service with minimum response times. In addition, INVAP offers real training and proven technology transfer over more than 40 years of complex project development.

Main features

RPA-170M
01
Air Cooled Solid State Transmit/Receive Modules (MTR).
02
Digital generation of waveforms with intrapulse frequency diversity.
03
High bandwidth frequency agility.
04
Independent beam settings including waveforms, burst shaping, and processing type.
05
Configurable volume scan parameters by sector.
06
Advanced digital processing, including MTI, Doppler, clutter map, adaptive filtering.
07
Azimuth and elevation monopulse.
08
Automatic target acquisition and tracking (Track-While-Scan).
09
Full self-diagnosis capacity (BIT).
10
Integrated Calibration Tools.
11
Local and remote operation and monitoring.
12
Monoradar Processor for radar data fusion (PSR-SSR).
13
Ground-air communication system.
14
Mobile rapid deployment system, transportable by land and air.
15
Mains or diesel powered (included in transport configuration).
16
Data output: ASTERIX and non-standard or custom interface upon request.
17
Configuration and control: Intuitive and user friendly graphical interface.

Product sheet

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