Time is money. So is an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Any illegal activity taking place in an EEZ is a potential cost to governments. From illegal fishing to piracy and smuggling, national authorities must be able to keep a close watch on their waters, any time and in any weather conditions.
Ensuring the coastal surveillance mission requires several radars and other sensors (AIS, radios, etc) as well as Control Centers that will merge the data from all these sensors, and thus build a global image of the maritime situation.
Thales has this capacity to define and provide 'turnkey' coastal surveillance systems.
Generally these systems include sensors (radars, AIS, electro-optics), radios (VHF, HF), one or more Control Centers, a data communication network as well as all the necessary infrastructures (civil engineering and works, energy supply, towers...)
Long range coastal surveillance radars, such as the Coast Watcher 100, are critical systems for supporting national authorities in their mission to protect EEZ; they help ensure homeland security at sea.
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Detect anything…
Monitoring activities along a country’s coasts is essential for homeland security. Patrol ships or maritime patrol aircrafts cannot achieve permanent surveillance of the whole EEZ.
To carry out this mission successfully, national authorities must be able to rely on fully autonomous assets that can constantly scan coastal waters and air space. To this end, Thales has developed the Coast Watcher 100, a long range surveillance radar designed to provide surface and low altitude target detection and identification around the clock.
The Coast Watcher 100 operates in X-band which, thanks to its small wave length providing high resolution, is well suited to detect very small targets such as Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIB) or jet skis. Coast Watcher 100 is able to simultaneously detect and track, up to 1000 targets. The Coast Watcher is also fitted with a dedicated channel to detect and identify up to 100 simultaneous low altitude air targets - such as turboprop aircraft, small jet aircraft and helicopters flying 10-30m above sea level - that normally succeed in evading air surveillance radar.
… In any weather
Coastlines are famous for their frequently changing weather forecast. Sunshine, rain, wind and storms can often all take place within the space of a day, affecting not only skies but also sea states. The disadvantage of the X band is that it is particularly sensitive to rain which degrades the detection range of radars operating in this band.
To address this vulnerability, the Coast Watcher features antenna polarisation switching. By enabling operators to choose between linear and circular polarisation, Thales ensures that the Coast Watcher continues to deliver optimal surface detection, whatever the weather.
Thales also works closely with its customers to choose the most appropriate installation sites. One of the advantages of the Coast Watcher 100 is that it can be installed at altitudes up to 1000m while retaining the ability to detect small targets.
This allows, when the geography allows it, to cover a much larger area with a lower number of radar.
With 40 radars operational around the world, the Coast Watcher actively contributes to homeland security and Search And Rescue (SAR) operations across a vast maritime area.
Key Features
- 100NM instrumented range for surface channel
- High resolutions in Range and Azimuth (4m range resolution over the full instrumented range /0.6° Azimuth resolution
- 8 operating frequencies
- Pulse to pulse frequency agility,
- Antenna polarization switchable between horizontal and circular
- Low altitude air channel with dedicated waveforms
- Only 4h of preventive maintenance per year
Did you know?
- Detects up to 1000 surface tracks and 100 low altitude tracks
- Detects very small surface targets up to 100NM and low altitude targets up to 50NM
- Thales is currently finishing implementation of full turnkey Coast Watcher systems in East Africa and in Jamaica
- Thales has sold two standalone Coast Watcher radar to the French DGA for the protection of a firing test range at sea
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Coast Watcher 100Long range Surface and Air coastal surveillance radar |