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- ScottishPower Renewables has partnered with Cambridge-based Aveillant, part of the Thales Group, to test a pioneering new radar system
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- Aveillant is pleased to announce the appointment of our new Chief Executive Officer
- Thales completes the acquisition of Aveillant, world pioneer in Holographic Radar technology
- Paris Charles de Gaulle airport installs Aveillant Gamekeeper radar for drone detection
- Turbines near East Midlands Airport to start generating power with help from Aveillant’s radar
- Aveillant's Gamekeeper radar sold to ST Electronics - Singapore represents second installation in major urban environment
- Aveillant launches city and coastal drone detection system in Monaco
- Dr. Mohammed Jahangir speaks about the potential for tackling drones with radar
- Aveillant radar receives CAA operational approval at East Midlands Airport
- Aveillant to present at Royal Aeronautical Society Conference
- Aveillant to demonstrate three-dimensional tracking of fast jets at the Royal International Air Tattoo
- Aveillant radar selected for world’s first complete civil drone protection system in Monaco
- Aveillant explains its Radar Revolution in this month's Wind Energy Magazine
- Aveillant strengthens commercial team
- Aveillant's Holographic Radar stands proud as new demands for primary surveillance emerge
- Professor Chris Baker to join Aveillant as Chief Technology Officer
- Full scale PSR Holographic Radar is now ready
- Aveillant - A Clear Choice
- International Crime Science Conference
- Aveillant Exhibiting At FAHM 2015
- Introducing UWAS, the UAV Watch
- Aveillant and Finmeccanica – Selex ES Join Forces For Prestwick PSR Tender
- Aveillant attending 2015 Paris Air Show
- 2015 IEEE International Radar Conference
- Holographic Radar: Drone-Tracking Capability Proven
- BBC Report on Drone Tracking
- Derby’s wind turbines start turning for next seven days
- Aveillant Heads To Madrid For World ATM Congress 2015
- Aveillant Announced As IHS Jane’s Finalist
- Derby’s Wind Turbines See The Development Of A World First In Radar Technology
- 2014 - The Year That Changed Radar
- Drones At Airports Need To Be Monitored
- Strengthening Ranks With Aviation Heavyweight
- Leadership Recognised In International Field Of Navigation & Surveillance By IET
- Recognition For Top Security & Technology Management System
- Joining ‘Sustainable Airports For A Stronger Economy’ Debate
- Aveillant Takes To The Podium At The Military Radar Conference
- International Standard Achieved
- Aveillant To Attend The BGAD
- Reaching For The Sky At Prestwick
- Presenting At Congress In Rome
- Achieving World Leading Accolade
- New Chairman Following Investment
- £6 Million Of Funding Secured
- Quality Management Accreditation
- Aveillant Heads To Madrid For World ATM Congress

Published: 1 December 2014
The PRoblem With radar isn't the radar - it's the radar!
3D Holographic Radar™ Changing The World Of Radar!
Remediation solutions to date have focused on the problems caused by wind farms, rather than looking at the real problem: the inability of radars to detect, differentiate and remove this ‘clutter’ from the image.
What if, rather than charging across the landscape to fix the wind farm, which in the last 10 years has led to raising aerial heads, hiding turbines behind a hill (terrain masking we call it), trying to paint them with radar suppression material, blanking them – what if we turned around, walked back to the route of the issue and saw the radar as the problem? Where would we be then – where Aveillant is today.
Masking and blanking the area above and around wind farms is not the answer, although up until recent times this has been the only commercially viable solution available to air traffic controllers. However, this does not provide an accurate picture of airspace and can be dangerous in an industry that has to be risk averse.
There is now a radar in operation that completely mitigates the effects of any wind farm. Aveillant’s 3D Holographic Radar™ is a massive step away from the traditional rotating radar, which only provides accurate measurement (or time on target) for 1% of the time. Aveillant’s solution is a staring phased array radar that provides a constant view of airspace at all times. Through intelligent characterisation of all objects in its range, the radar can detect, differentiate and remove clutter such as wind turbines or motorway traffic, providing a clear view of what the operator wants to see.
For the past four years, 3D Holographic Radar™ has been in development and the team have listened carefully to and worked with their customers. It is one of only two radars with safety cases underway. In 2013, Aveillant held public trials of its technology at Prestwick Airport, where it was independently found to have a probability of detection above the nearby wind farm of above 99%, compared to Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) recommendations of 90%. At the site, the 3D Holographic Radar™ also continued to operate in gale force winds reaching in excess of 90 miles per hour.
As well as providing huge operational benefits over a traditional Primary Surveillance Radar (PSR), 3D Holographic Radar™ is also far more cost effective across its lifecycle. It outlives the traditional PSR and without any moving parts, maintenance is simple and can be performed without any disruption to performance.
Commercially viable, 3D Holographic Radar™ is now being implemented across the UK and further discussions are underway with many airports. It’s scalable to meet all coverage requirements.
It also offers a future proofed solution. Aveillant’s spectrum-efficient radar technology operates in L band, as opposed to the congested S band commonly used by the aviation sector and MOD, and that is also in demand by mobile phone operators. The Government aims to release 500MHz below 5GHz, including 100MHz of S band spectrum by 2020, which could leave many airports needing to replace their radar with a difficult choice. The solution will not be to relocate wideband radars into L band. Aveillant is executing a contract with the CAA to demonstrate the ability of its Holographic RadarTM technology to provide a spectrum-efficient alternative to S-band primary air traffic surveillance radar. The future looks exciting for 3D Holographic Radar™.