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| mini-SAR on Shadow UAV |
Weighing less than 30 pounds, the miniSAR will be one-fourth the weight and one-tenth the volume of its predecessors currently flying on larger UAVs such as the General Atomics’ Predator. It is the latest design produced by Sandia based on more than 20 years of related research and development.
The new miniSAR will have the same capabilities as its larger cousins. Like the larger class of Sandia SARs, it will be able to take high-resolution (four-inch) images through weather, at night, and in dust storms. The only difference will be range. The larger SAR can produce an image in the 35 kilometer range due to its larger antenna and higher transmitter power, compared to the miniSAR, which is expected to get a range of about 15 kilometers — more than adequate for small UAV applications. SARs are commonly used for military reconnaissance purposes.
IED Detector Developed by Sandia Labs Being Transferred to Army
Synthetic aperture radar helps detect IEDs in all conditions
IEDs explosive detection | Homeland Security News Wire
Newswise — ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Detecting improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan requires constant, intensive monitoring using rugged equipment. When Sandia researchers first demonstrated a modified miniature synthetic aperture radar (MiniSAR) system to do just that,
some experts didn’t believe it.
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| Sandia
researchers, from front to back, George Sloan, Dale Dubbert, and Armin Doerry, |
But those early doubts are long gone. Sandia’s Copperhead — a highly modified MiniSAR system mounted on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) — has been uncovering IEDs in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2009. Now, Sandia is transferring the technology to the U.S. Army to support combat military personnel, said Sandia senior manager Jim Hudgens.
The technology was developed with
- the Defense Department’s Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO);
- the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center/Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL);
- the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR);
- Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory;
- the Naval Research Laboratory; and
- Florida-based force protection company AIRSCAN.
transcript of video of news broadcast:
THE NUMBER OF I-E-D'S DETONATING IN AFGHANISTAN, IS ON THE DECLINE. BUT THE DEVICES STILL ACCOUNTED FOR 60-PERCENT OF ALL U-S CASUALTIES THERE, IN 2012. NOW, NEW TECHNOLOGY OUT OF THE SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES LOOKS TO DROP THOSE NUMBERS EVEN FURTHER AND SAVE LIVES.
KOAT ACTION 7 NEWS REPORTER MIKE SPRINGER SHOWS YOU HOW IT WORKS. FLYING HIGH IN THE SKY THESE UNMANNED AIRCRAFTS BETTER KNOWN AS DRONES ARE HELPING TO SEEK OUT AND DESTROY IEDS. IT'S KNOWN AS COPPERHEAD SYSTEM.
It's light weight, low powered and still does a very important job in finding improvised explosive devices.
IT'S BEING DEVELOPED RIGHT HERE IN NEW MEXICO AT THE SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES. THEY USE MODIFIED MINIATURE SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR-OR MINISAR FOR SHORT TO FIND AND LOCATE DEVICES BURIED IN THE GROUND.
So the way it works it the aircraft will fly over an area twice and send the images back to crews on the ground who can notice changes as small as a change of soda. You can see tracks of vehicles and things like that and so that helps us find disturbances associated with maybe digging an ied into the ground or maybe finding an ied.
THE TECHNOLOGY HAS BEEN IN PLACE SINCE 2009. BUT FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE ARMY WILL TAKE CONTROL OF IT. SOMETHING RESEARCHERS EXPECT TO HAPPEN BY THE FIRST OF THE YEAR. RESEARCHERS ESTIMATE THE DEVICE HAS HELPED SAVE HUNDREDS OF LIVES SO FAR. DOUG AND SHELLY, BACK TO YOU RESEARCHERS SAY, IT CAN TAKE READINGS FROM MORE THAN 10 THOUSAND FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL. THE RADAR DEVICE ITSELF, WEIGHS ABOUT 70 POUNDS.
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