A Lockheed Martin airborne reconnaissance radar that provides high resolution, photographic-like imagery, even in inclement weather or darkness, is now available to customers worldwide. Lockheed Martin's AN/APY-12, a dual mode, X-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) with moving target indication capability, has been cleared for export to certain countries, including Taiwan, Italy, Sweden and Korea.

"Intelligence operations depend heavily on the ability to quickly locate and track targets in every weather condition," said James Quinn, vice president of C4ISR Systems with Lockheed Martin IS and GS-Defense. "Our AN/APY-12 radar is tailor-made for customers who need real-time situational awareness 24 hours a day, seven days a week."

Developed for surveillance and reconnaissance missions, the AN/APY-12 can transmit airborne processed images and moving target detections to ground-based exploitation stations in real-time via secure data links. This high resolution SAR delivers photographic quality images of areas of interest as well as ground moving target indicator (GMTI) detections of moving surface vehicles, taxiing aircraft, and hovering helicopters.

A new mode incorporated into the radar produces GMTI detections with increased sensitivity and improved geo-location accuracy. The radar also incorporates a wide area moving target indicator (WAMTI) mode that can scan thousands of square-kilometers, detect ground movement, then overlay that moving target data onto a map in less than one minute.

Since inventing SAR in the early 1950s, (Lockheed Martin owns the original SAR patent titled 'Simultaneous Doppler Build up'), Lockheed Martin has continued to refine this imaging technology. Resolution that had been measured in feet can now be measured in inches in certain applications.

More than 500 SAR systems have been developed for 30 different types of aircraft, including the development of all SAR systems for the SR-71 Blackbird.

Today, Lockheed Martin continues its pursuit toward the development of next generation SAR technologies.

Recent Lockheed Martin SAR innovations include dual-band VHF/UHF synthetic aperture radar for imaging concealed targets, foliage penetrating radar, reconnaissance sensors encased in pods to enable fighter aircraft to collect imagery, and an all weather, passive detection and tracking system suitable for real-time 3D air surveillance.

The AN/APY-12 radar is offered within Dragon Stare, part of Lockheed Martin's Dragon family of ISR systems. Dragon Stare gives customers the option to obtain sensors and systems tailored for the aircraft platform they choose - manned or unmanned, podded or integrated within the mission system.

Lockheed Martin introduced these innovative Dragon airborne and ground system configurations last year to offer customers a unique approach to tailor their sensor requirements to meet their specific budget, airframe and mission needs.