The technology will
be converted into a product within five years, according to the producer.
MOSCOW, January 22.
/TASS/. The RTI Joint Stock Company, a developer and producer of high-tech
products, will create new radars that operate in terahertz frequency range and
are capable of pinpointing the smallest drone, RTI CEO Pavel Laptayev told
TASS.
"The terahertz
technology [featuring radio wave length below one millimeter] will be converted
into a product within five years. These radars can detect small drones, and
function in space," Laptayev explained.
According to the CEO,
the submillimeter radar enables a beam to be aimed on a relatively small object
with extraordinary precision, impossible for other ranges, and identify its
shape, material, speed and trajectory.
Laptayev admitted
that RTI managed to achieve significant success in the terahertz range only in
2019, with the company mastering the components for such stations, and learning
to identify objects and materials. According to the CEO, the RTI specialists
now work on radar software that would swiftly and effectively classify a target
and relay this information to the operator.
"This task will
take more time than creating a prototype, because it requires accumulating data
and implementing machine learning methods," the CEO specified.
Small drones are
considered a serious threat because they can go unnoticed by conventional
radars, especially when flying at low altitudes and low speed. For instance,
drones rigged with explosives, attacked Saudi Aramco’s two largest refineries
on September 14, 2019. The blasts and fires caused by the strike sent the
world’s biggest oil exporter’s daily extraction plunging from 9.8 million bpd
to 4.1 million bpd.
Source: ITAR-TASS
23-01-2020
