BAE Systems chooses radar scan converter from Cambridge Pixel for Royal Navy destroyers and aircraft carriers
LITLINGTON, England, 18 Jan. 2011. Engineers at the BAE Systems Mission Systems segment in New Malden and Portsmouth, England, needed radar scan conversion technology for British Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyers and the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers. They found their solution from Cambridge Pixel Ltd., a developer of primary radar, acquisition, radar processing, and display solutions, located in Litlington, England.
Cambridge pixel won a contract worth 600,000 pounds -- which is the equivalent of $960,1200 -- to supply its software-based SPx radar scan converter to BAE Systems for the command and control client software aboard the United Kingdom warships.
The BAE Systems command and control client software feeds video from several different shipboard radar systems into a computer server, and distributes the radar video over Ethernet networks to command and control displays located in different parts of the ships. The server application is built from Cambridge Pixel's HPx-100 radar acquisition cards and SPx software modules for compression and network interfacing.
"We chose Cambridge Pixel's solution for these programs because of their advanced software solution and flexible product architecture," explains Brian Page, chief technical authority for the CMS-1 combat management system at BAE Systems Mission Systems. "Our software engineers were able to work with Cambridge Pixel to integrate the SPx capabilities into our server and client software. Cambridge Pixel's expertise in radar display systems has been a great asset to our program."
The Type 45 anti-air warfare destroyer will provide the backbone of the Royal Navy's air defenses for the next 30 years and beyond. Ultimately, Type 45 will defend the UK's new aircraft carriers or groups of ships, such as an amphibious landing force, against the strongest threats from the air.
The Queen Elizabeth class is a two-ship class of aircraft carrier being built for the Royal Navy. The Class will be the biggest and most powerful surface warships ever constructed for the Royal Navy. These 65,000 tonne ships will be used by all three sectors of the UK Armed Forces, each providing a four acre operating base that can be deployed worldwide.
For more information contact Cambridge Pixel online at www.cambridgepixel.com, or BAE Systems Mission Systems at www.baesystems.com.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
