KONGSBERG selected Echodyne’s MESA® radar platform for a range of air and surface applications, including its integration with the PROTECTOR RS4 and PROTECTOR RS6 remote weapon stations. The integration provided the PROTECTOR family with the precision radar data required to operate as an effective counter-unmanned aircraft system effector, combining KONGSBERG’s proven weapon-station architecture and Collaborative Fire Control capabilities with Echodyne’s compact, solid-state radar technology. The resulting solution offered a scalable means of delivering high-fidelity detection, tracking and targeting data to static, crewed and uncrewed platforms without the size, weight and power requirements traditionally associated with high-performance electronically scanned array radars.

Echodyne’s low-SWaP MESA radar supplied accurate range, range-rate, bearing and target-motion data while maintaining the track stability and persistence required to calculate and execute an effective firing solution. By cueing and stabilising the optical fire-control system onto a target, the radar enabled the weapon station to maintain target lock for longer, shorten the detection-to-engagement timeline and improve the probability of successfully engaging agile, fast-moving threats with a low radar cross-section. This precision was particularly important when PROTECTOR systems employed programmable airburst munitions, as accurate range and range-rate measurements supported the timing required to detonate the munition at the correct point along the target’s flight path. In networked operations, a cooperative surveillance radar or another external sensor could transmit an initial threat track to the radar-equipped remote weapon station, allowing the local MESA radar to refine and maintain the track for fire-control purposes.

Eben Frankenberg, CEO of Echodyne, said that integrating MESA radar provided the PROTECTOR family with the precise, stable and persistent tracks required to cue the fire-control system, sustain target lock and respond decisively to fast-moving, low-signature drone threats. He added that the compact, software-defined radar could be deployed across KONGSBERG’s extensive installed base and adapted as operational threats evolved. Echodyne and KONGSBERG had spent several years integrating, testing and demonstrating the radar-enabled solution under operationally relevant conditions. Beyond the PROTECTOR family, the companies also explored further applications for high-performance radar technology across KONGSBERG’s air and surface systems portfolio, with their continuing technical cooperation focused on resilient sensing, networked fire control and scalable protection against rapidly evolving threats.