A New Era in Helicopter Radars: HELRAD

Meteksan Defence, a leading Turkish company specializing in developing high technology solutions for various fields, is proud to introduce its latest radar system, HELRAD (Maritime Search and Weather RADAR-MSWR), designed for maritime reconnaissance and surveillance on rotary-wing platforms, for the first time at the SAHA EXPO 2024. HELRAD is a testament to Meteksan Defence’s expertise in radar systems.

HELRAD is a cutting-edge helicopter radar developed to enhance maritime security with advanced radar technology and unique features, a game-changer in maritime surveillance. The radar cross-references detections over the water with data from the Automatic Identification System (AIS) to establish contacts and automatically tracks up to 200 targets, providing their course and speed information. With this capability, HELRAD will be a new force multiplier for the Turkish Armed Forces and law enforcement agencies in ensuring maritime security, combating smuggling, and monitoring irregular migration.

Initially developed for the Turkish Coast Guard’s helicopter platforms, HELRAD is designed with flexibility to accommodate different installation configurations in helicopters, considering the user’s needs and platform constraints.

HELRAD can filter out contacts without AIS information and marking them as suspicious on the operator console, thus enabling the rapid and effective detection of any potential threats at sea. To meet diverse operational requirements, it also offers several usage modes:

Small Target Mode: Detecting small targets at sea
Short Range Mode: Detailed surveillance over short distances
Long Range Mode: Comprehensive surveillance over wider areas
Weather Detection Mode: Monitoring weather conditions and precipitation

HELRAD’s “Multi-Sector Coverage” feature allows it to transmit signals only to relevant areas. It can also be used for terrain mapping, identifying surface objects like landmasses. HELRAD is fully qualified to meet MIL-STD standards and is designed to operate reliably and effectively in challenging maritime environments.

Adil BAKTIR, President of Meteksan Defence, emphasized the significance of HELRAD with the following statement: “HELRAD is designed to strengthen the security of our coasts, standing out with its advanced radar technology and user-friendly features. We believe HELRAD, with its automatic target tracking and suspicious contact detection capabilities, will revolutionize maritime security as a cost-effective and easy-to-maintain domestic radar solution. It will facilitate the operations of rotary-wing platform crews and help create a safer environment along our coasts. As Meteksan Defence, we see this as a significant step in ensuring the security of our blue homeland.”