Smaller than a suitcase and mounted to a 55-foot government vessel traveling at 15 knots, a specialized radar sped through the waters of Lake Huron in mid-July. Despite a barrage of inputs — information collected and processed on-the-move — the radar identified all potential threats in the environment, tracked them and could link the most appropriate countermeasure for a fictional interdiction.
The radar was Elbit System of America’s (Elbit America) Multi-Mission AESA Tactical Radar — X-Band, or simply, MATR-X and it was put to the test during a recent series of experimental events in Alpena, Mich. called “Silent Swarm.” Sponsored by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, Integrated Sensing and Cyber and led by Naval Surface Warfare Center – Crane Division, Silent Swarm wrapped after two-weeks, involving numerous capabilities and innovators. Silent Swarm is an experimentation event designed to drive advancements in electromagnetic warfare capabilities. It provided Elbit America the opportunity to test the MATR-X radar’s utility in an operationally relevant environment. This event was also the first time that MATR-X was mounted aboard a ship and provided essential testing data for successful integration on future vessels.
Elbit America’s MATR-X has a 360-degree field of regard and can track up to 10,000 targets simultaneously. The system is lightweight, easy to set-up and nearly inescapable when it comes to detecting threats. The system’s active electronically scanned array radiates multiple beams of radio waves at various frequencies in every direction, picking up the signatures of people, and non-biological threats such as unmanned aerial vehicles, uncrewed surface vessels and other vehicles. In the congested modern battlefield, MATR-X offers the sensing, tracking and targeting needed for users to see the big picture and respond accordingly.