Spin out set up for surveillance

Feb. 11, 2013
A new company has been set up in the UK to target systems integrators delivering surveillance solutions into the global defense and commercial security markets.

A new company has been set up in the UK to target systems integrators delivering surveillance solutions into the global defense and commercial security markets.

Formed earlier this year due to the growth of the Blighter radar group within Plextek (Great Chesterford, UK), Blighter Surveillance Systems (Great Chesterford, UK) intends to build on the sales success of the company's Blighter electronic-scanning radar system.

Central to its plans for growth are to develop and provide an integrated multi-sensor toolkit for systems integrators comprising not just the Blighter radars, but cameras, thermal imagers, trackers, and radar display and software.

A new multi-language version of the BlighterView software will provide new features aimed at the system integrator, including the capability to support large scale deployments of radars, cameras, thermal imagers and other sensors.

"We have recognized for some time that our system integrator customers would prefer a single supplier to provide a more tightly coupled multi-sensor solution -- particularly for large scale, complex border and site security projects. This approach offers cost efficiencies, de-risks sensor compatibility issues and saves the customer having to integrate advanced radar, cameras and thermal imaging technology into their command and control applications," says Mark Radford, CEO of Blighter Surveillance Systems.

The Blighter advanced ground surveillance radar will remain at the heart of the company's surveillance offering. Conceived in 2003 and now in operational use in over a dozen countries, Blighter radars combine patented solid-state Passive Electronic Scanning Array (PESA) technology with advanced Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) and Doppler processing to provide a persistent surveillance capability.

Blighter Surveillance Systems will operate as a separate business within the Plextek Group. Its products are designed in-house and manufactured in the UK by several different contract manufacturers.

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-- Dave Wilson, Senior Editor, Vision Systems Design

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