Israeli Reconnaissance Pod Finds Asia-Pacific Customer

IAI-Elta Systems said it had been awarded a large export contract for the ELM 2060P podded radar reconnaissance system that is designed to fit on a variety of combat aircraft. The pod features synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and ground moving target indicator modes (GMTI), and the system also includes a datalink and ground station. Elbit Systems is the main contractor for the deal.

As usual, the company did not identify the customer, other than to describe it as a prestigious one in the Asia-Pacific region. Singapore was a previous customer for IAI-Elta EO/IR reconnaissance systems on fighter aircraft. India is a known customer for the ELM 2060P, having equipped its Dassault Mirage 2000s and Sukhoi Su-30s with it.

IAI-Elta describes the ELM 2060P as a “true all-weather day-night sensor.” The pod weighs 1,310 pounds and requires 3 Kw of power. In SAR mode, large areas can be imaged as a strip map, and there is a high-resolution spot mode. GMTI data can be overlaid on the SAR strip map. The datalink operates in C-, Ku- or X-band and has a line-of-sight range of up to 250 nm. It is bi-directional, which allows in-flight re-targeting. The ground station can be fixed, or the company offers a transportable shelter configuration.