From the Spider to the Grifo, Leonardo launches radar and comms systems

WASHINGTON--Leonardo announced a host of new defense systems, including a communications intelligence system and a radar array. The Italian contractor unveiled the new offerings at the 2018 Farnborough Air Show in the U.K.

The ‘Spider’ communications intelligence system promises to “detect, intercept, identify and geo-locate complex target communcations” in real time, according to the company. The array, designed to fit on drones or manned aircraft, weighs less than 20kg (44 lbs) and fits in a 1.5 x 0.5 x 0.5m pod.

The Grifo E-Scan system, the latest model of electronically-scanning radars, uses a matrix of hundreds of tiny radar modules to ‘steer’ an electronic beam, rather than the radar physically moving to point a beam at a target. This allows the beam to move quickly and for “the radar to perform multiple tasks simultaneously" according to a company announcement.

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