Sierra Nevada Successfully Flight-Tested New UAV Sensor

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) successfully completed its second airborne demonstration for its Multi Sensor Detect Sense and Avoid (MSDSA) program using a prototype radar sensor. 

This new Airborne Sense and Avoid (ABSAA) sensor, utilized on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), repeatedly detected and tracked airborne intruders resulting in over 60 seconds of avoidance time, exceeding the program requirements. The ABSAA provides unparalleled performance with its sense and avoid capability. 

“Our sense and avoid sensor incorporates SNC’s unique Electronically Reconfigurable Array (ERA). The entire sensor has been designed and developed as an ABSAA building block that is easily scalable to serve as the solution to multiple UAV CONOPS and installation challenges,” said Greg Cox, corporate vice president of SNC’s Communication, Navigation, Surveillance/Air Traffic Management Business Area. 

“A key program objective is to advance the technology at lower cost relative to current electronically steered antennas,” said John Koger, MSDSA program manager, for the Air Force Research Lab in Dayton, Ohio.