FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec 09, 2003
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - General Atomics (GA) announced today that it has signed a contract with the U.S. Army CECOM for a 24-month System Development and Demonstration of a variant of the AN/APY-8 Lynx™ radar, dubbed the Lynx II. The contract effort includes design, fabrication, integration and test, flight test, associated logistics and delivery of six (6) Lynx II SAR/GMTI systems.
Based on technology developed for GA by Sandia National Laboratories, the existing Lynx provides day/night, all-weather reconnaissance, surveillance and target tracking for military, civil, and commercial customers. The Lynx II SAR/GMTI derivative to be built will feature lighter weight and improved reliability, maintainability, and diagnostics.
Operating in SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) mode, Lynx II will provide photographic-like images of up to 4-inch resolution. At 4-inch resolution, the radar can image scenes 30 kilometers away in fair weather and 25 kilometers away (about 16 miles) through clouds and rain. The radar can detect very small changes in a scene (including footprints) by using a technique called coherent change detection. In GMTI (Ground Moving Target Indicator) mode, Lynx II can detect moving targets with up to 4-inch range resolution accuracy.
General Atomics, founded in 1955, specializes in diversified research, development, and manufacturing in defense, energy, and other advanced technologies. Affiliated manufacturing and commercial service companies include General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., which builds the family of Predator®, Predator B, GNAT®, Prowler®, Altus®, and Altair® UAVs.
Media contact:
Doug Fouquet, General Atomics, Public Relations 858.455.2173
Technical contacts:
Steve Hannah, General Atomics, Vice President, Lynx Systems 858.457.8931
Stan Tsunoda, General Atomics, Technical Director, Lynx Systems 858.457.8752
Lynx images are available.
Contact:
Nancy Hitchcox, General Atomics, Marketing Communications Manager 858.455.3951