Ukraine presented the TRACER aerial radio reconnaissance complex
Ukrainian developers presented TRACER, an unmanned aerial vehicle for conducting radio reconnaissance from the air.
Ukrainian developers presented TRACER, an unmanned aerial vehicle for conducting radio reconnaissance from the air.
According to «Military», the path from concept to finished product took the team only half a year. Currently, TRACER is being operated by several units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, and the complex has already shown its effectiveness in combat conditions — one unit uses it against electronic warfare equipment, another used it to detect an enemy radar.
What TRACER can do
The main task of the device is to detect any sources of ground-based radio radiation: enemy UAV control panels, electronic warfare systems, radar stations, and Wi-Fi bridges. According to the developers, the main task is everything that emits.
The crew of the complex can be at a considerable distance from the line of combat contact — about 10 km. The technical capabilities of the drone allow you to detect the FPV control station at a distance of up to 15 km, the Mavic remote controls — up to 10 km, and the radar — at a distance of up to 30 km.
Protection and navigation
The PER antenna on board is passive and does not emit anything, but the copter itself creates some radiation during the flight. To counter threats, the developers implemented the function of operational frequency switching directly in flight — this is necessary both in order not to interfere with its own direction finding, and to disorient the enemy, and so that the device is not «crushed» by enemy electronic warfare.
The TRACER navigation system is optical, which helps to bypass enemy electronic warfare (EW) equipment — if the drone flies 8 km and returns, the error is approximately 400 meters. The system is responsible for two functions: stabilization of the board and return home.
Accuracy and limitations
TRACER direction finding time is from 40 to 50 minutes, and object detection occurs with an error of approximately 3°, which at a distance of 10 km can be up to 500 meters — that is, additional reconnaissance is still necessary.
The developer company independently created the electronic intelligence system and the copter itself, while the navigation solution is a partner development. The TRACER complex is currently undergoing codification at the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
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