By Omar El Sayed – World Editor
Israel Aerospace Industries is bringing its new POINT@AIR system to Washington this week, unveiling a compact, mobile aerostat-mounted active electronically scanned array radar at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual meeting.
Mobile Aerostats and Battlefield Awareness
The system pairs an advanced radar with a compact aerostat, a tethered, helium-filled balloon designed to keep a sensor elevated above the ground over extended periods. According to the manufacturer, the setup detects and tracks multiple air, sea, and ground targets, prioritizes them, and relays data to command-and-control systems. Because the equipment needs no permanent infrastructure, ground forces can move it quickly.
Bypassing Obstacles with AESA Technology
Lifting a sensor off the terrain bypasses natural and man-made obstacles like hills, buildings, and the curve of the Earth. Ground-based radars are typically blocked by these features until incoming targets arrive at close range.
The POINT@AIR platform is based on the company’s ELM-2083 radar family. Its active electronically scanned array steers the radar beam electronically across multiple directions while rotating mechanically to secure 360-degree coverage.
Lineage from Green Pine to ELTA Systems
The original ELM-2083 is a larger, L-band early-warning radar carried by aerostats. That system is derived from the Green Pine radar used in Israel’s Arrow missile defense system. The company’s ELTA Systems subsidiary has supplied it to several countries, including India. The new iteration scales that architecture down into a mobile setup built to accompany forces.
Executive Perspective on Persistent Vision
“Seeing the battlespace is the starting point for every effective defense. The more persistent and comprehensive that view becomes, the better equipped forces are to understand what is unfolding, anticipate threats and act with confidence,” said Guy Bar Lev, president and CEO of IAI.
“Our goal was not simply to reduce the size of an existing solution, but to rethink what an aerostat-based radar could achieve,” said Dror Bar, CEO of ELTA Systems and an executive vice president at IAI. “By combining advanced AESA technology, long-range detection and 360-degree coverage in a compact configuration, POINT@AIR gives operators the ability to establish persistent awareness where fixed infrastructure may not be practical.”
Weighing Past U.S. Aerostat Programs
Aerostat radars have a mixed history with the U.S. Army. Although the military branch previously relied on more compact, camera-equipped balloons to monitor installations in Afghanistan and Iraq, it scrapped the much bigger JLENS cruise missile defense initiative following a 2015 incident where one of its aerostats broke free from its tether in Maryland and floated across Pennsylvania.
Even with the Washington unveiling, the manufacturer withheld key operational parameters for the new system. The firm kept details under wraps regarding the radar’s range, the altitude at which the balloon operates, its endurance time, crew size, and cost, alongside failing to reveal any buyers.
