The UK MOD is to advance its surveillance and intelligence gathering capabilities under the experimental Pod SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) programme. The radar, being designed and manufactured by Thales Sensors, will enable the demonstration of high resolution imaging from a pod carried by a Tornado aircraft. The radar will be used by DERA Malvern for gathering both high bandwidth MTI (Moving Target Imagery) and SAR data from a manoeuvring platform. It will be installed and flown in 2003.

The radar will be installed in the DERA SMART Pod, which can be configured to demonstrate a range of different sensors. Most of the engineering work will take place at Thales Sensors' Crawley facility. Thales' work on Pod SAR will complement related Intelligence Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance activities in UK MOD programmes, such as the Watchkeeper UAV programme, ASTOR and the FOAEW.

David Sheppard, managing director of Thales Sensors, said: "This is a major milestone in our strategy to become a world leader in air-to-ground surveillance, and Pod SAR confirms Thales as the preferred radar manufacturer for air-to-surface imaging in the UK. It provides an opportunity to significantly advance our range of airborne radar products and technologies, as well as increasing our expertise in higher resolution imaging techniques applied to Thales' ground and maritime surveillance radars."