The 94 GHz band gave the Sandblaster radar an antenna about a third as large
as a 35 GHz alternative.
Under a Cooperative Research And
Development Agreement, the Army
AATD and Sikorsky evaluated a 94
GHz see-through Helicopter Autono-
mous Landing System. In March 2009,
the BSAU test Black Hawk with Sierra
Nevada Corp. HALS II radar flew into
Yuma landing zones alone or behind a
UH-1 helicopter to test the ability of the
radar to penetrate brownout dust. While
Sandblaster used a fixed-angle, fixed-
azimuth radar to update its SLEEK data
base, HALS II provided two scanning
angles to spot obstacles on landing or
enroute. Obstacles appeared as generic
shapes, but their presence was clear. The
HALS II see-through radar painted the
LZ from 6,000 feet to touchdown.
High-Res Ladar
AFRL brownout researchers concluded
that laser radar could provide far better
spatial resolution than MMW radar to
spot landing zone obstacles.
The 3D-LZ collaboration by the
AFRL and AFDD integrated ladar
with an intuitive Brown Out Symbology
System. The ladar updated a dynamic
navigation database that showed pilots
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