Affordable miniaturized SAR for tactical UAV applications

Sandia’s fielded and experimental SAR systems are well known for their real time, high resolution imagery. Previous designs, such as the Lynx radar, have been successfully demonstrated on medium-payload UAVs, including Predator and Fire Scout. However, fielding a high performance SAR sensor on even smaller (sub-50 pound payload) UAVs will require at least a 5x reduction in size, weight, and cost. This paper gives an overview of Sandia’s system concept and roadmap for near-term SAR miniaturization. Specifically, the “miniSAR” program, which plans to demonstrate a 25 pound system with 4 inch resolution in early 2005, is detailed. Accordingly, the conceptual approach, current status, design tradeoffs, and key facilitating technologies are reviewed. Lastly, future enhancements and directions are described, such as the follow-on demonstration of a sub-20 pound version with multi-mode (SAR/GMTI) capability.