New IAI high frequency sensor can be used on ground and navy tactical missions

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Israel’s largest aerospace and defense company, said Tuesday that a unit has developed a new, mobile, high-frequency communication intelligence sensor that can be used for ground and navy tactical missions.

The small sized mobile sensor has been developed by Elta Systems Ltd., a subsidiary of IAI, and will be used to create a compact version of its Ground and Naval HF COMINT Direction Finder – ELK-7065.

High-frequency (HF) communication plays an increasingly significant role in military, para-military and civilian applications and is often used by terrorists, illegal immigrants, pirates and illegal fishermen, IAI said in a statement.

Advanced high frequency radios allow beyond line-of-sight communication, without the need for expensive satellite communication or the risk of being intercepted through cellular communication servers. HF communication is also proving to be a practical solution and used increasingly by military and para-military operators in charge of intercepting illegal activities.

This fast-growing use of HF communication has generated increased interest in these kind of intelligence systems, IAI said, but current technologies are cumbersome and require the deployment of large antennas which typically occupy fields as large as several hundred meters.

These large arrays make the systems impractical for anything but fixed strategic applications.
The new product based on the ELK-7065 3D HF COMINT sensor allows the quick interception and identification of HF signals, and creates a reliable picture of electronic signals present and an accurate geolocation, IAI said.

The HF antenna configuration, which measures 1.2 meters in diameter — substituting the large antennas — suits  fixed or mobile tactical ground and naval forces applications, IAI said.

“This ground-breaking product line has generated keen interest, and has been successfully demonstrated for numerous customers around the world for both symmetric and asymmetric warfare applications,” said Nissim Hadas, IAI Executive vice president and Elta President, in the statement.

IAI said in a separate statement that an automated signal intelligence center, also developed by Elta, has been made operational with an undisclosed customer. The center has integrated and fused all the country’s signal intelligence sensors, IAI said, and it is the first time such a center has been developed to handle such large amounts of sensors and data.