Disruptive Small Form Factor ESM Solutions

AE-4500

Auto ESM System

Overview

Detect. Identify. Geolocate. Decide.

The AE-4500 Auto ESM System provides small form factor radar detection and collection capabilities designed for installation on small manned and unmanned airborne platforms. The commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) solution reduces the size, weight and power (SWaP) needed to detect, identify, collect and locate modern radar emitters.

‍

This stand-alone collection and analysis system includes all antenna, radio frequency (RF) and digital signal processing hardware and software required for on-board emitter detection, deinterleaving, identification, geolocation, correlation and reporting.

Spec Sheets

Aerospace & Defense | Sierra Nevada Company (SNC) | Products & Technologies

TRL 9

Mature Hardware & Software

240°

Instantaneous Azimuth Coverage

40 GHz

Precision Geolocation & Targeting

FEATURES

Mission Planning & Analysis

Pre-Mission Planning Tools allow users to create and optimize Scan Plans and Emitter Databases

Post-Mission Analysis Tools allow users to play back, sort, isolate and examine recorded data

Automatic Search Mode provides hands-off mission operations

Remote control available through ground datalink

On-board emitter identification, geolocation, correlation and reporting

Modular Architecture

Provides single-ship geolocation and supports multi-ship geolocation

Supports UAVs, wingtip pods, turbo-prop aircraft and business jets

Includes firmware and software applications for pulsed and low-powered emitters

Ground Processing Exploitation and Dissemination (PED) software controls airborne collection for situational awareness

Signal Processing

Precision geolocation and targeting up to 40 GHz

240-degree instantaneous azimuth coverage

Interfaces to platform INS/GPS for navigation data

Detection, identification and location of pulsed, CW and FMCW emitters

Low-Band Frequency Extension

Adds capability to detect and identify high-priority VHF/UHF early‑warning radars used across surface-to-air missile systems and integrated air defense systems

Provides rapid situational awareness against long-range, low-frequency emitters, including those designed to detect low-observable aircraft

Receiver Processor Assembly (RPA)

Controls interferometer antenna arrays for passive automatic search, identification and targeting accuracy geolocation of non-comms signals

Directs system hardware to passively detect, collect, identify and locate radar emitters over 0.5 to 40 GHz

Interfaces to the host platform computer, GPS/INS NAV system and line-of-sight (LOS) or beyond-LOS (BLOS) datalink

PASSIVE DETECTION. ACTIVE ADVANTAGE.

Mission Applications

Modern ESM Systems for Any Platform

SNC supports operations throughout PACOM with solutions like the AE-4500 ESM system for air and ground platforms, that enable long-range, passive precision targeting to detect, identify and locate radars and non-communication signals.

‍

The AE-4500 delivers situational awareness and actionable intelligence to users via precision geolocation data, post-mission analysis tools, correlation and reporting. Designed for any platform, AE-4500 minimizes the size, weight and power needed to effectively collect and track radio frequency (RF) energy.

Installed and flown on small and large UAVs, turboprop and business jet platforms

Integrates seamlessly for installation on fixed masts, mobile masts, shelter systems and buildings to maximize coverage of surrounding environment

Configurable for operations over multiple frequency ranges using a variety of antenna arrays for optimal field-of-view coverage

Multiple AE-4500 systems can provide wide-area surveillance

Remote, unmanned ESM systems may be networked together to provide real-time distributed situational awareness to a central location

SNC AE-4500 Auto ESM System installed on aircraft and ground platforms

advantages

Small SWaP

Modern platforms struggle to detect RF while constrained by size, weight and power limitations. AE-4500 delivers maximum capability at reduced weight and power.

Open Architecture

Designed for any platform, AE-4500 provides a software-defined radio architecture that supports third-party application development for affordable system growth through available software and firmware developer's kits (SDK and FDK).

Automatic Search Mode

Provides hands-off operation during short or long missions. Search Mode may be stopped by an operator for manual Set-On collection for recording of complex signal patterns.