READING, UK—Horizon Technologies’ Aerospace subsidiary, a company focused on providing state of the art SIGINT systems to NATO and other governments, and its partner Linwave Technology, a leading RF and Microwave innovation company have announced a grant awarded by Innovate UK with funding provided by the UK MoD (DSTL) as part of the High-Altitude Intelligence Cross Sector Innovation Challenge.
This grant will fund a collaborative project aimed at developing a prototype UAV SIGINT payload. Horizon’s current BlackFish™ Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) solution is a follow-on to its successful FlyingFish™ system which is flying on over 60 NATO and non-NATO aircraft. BlackFish™ monitors the Thuraya, ISAT, and Iridium Sat Phone networks, geolocating and monitoring Sat Phone handsets and terminals. Horizon Technologies’ systems are already deployed in NATO and FRONTEX aircraft and have helped save the lives of more than 200,000 migrants.
The Industrial research-based BFX targets advancement in our state-of-the-art of airborne SIGINT solutions for use on the latest High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) and Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) platforms as well as fixed-wing solar HAPS (High Altitude platform system), Lighter than Air (LTA) HAPS, and H2 HAPS.
The requirements of HALE and MALE platforms will require significant development in the construction of our payload, not least in reducing its size and mass appreciably. The knowledge gained from the work will be invaluable as we look to future space-based platform applications.
John Beckner, CEO of Horizon Technologies, stated, “We are thrilled to receive this award to develop this innovate product for these critical unmanned platforms. BFX will be the ideal solution for UK MoD and export customers who have L-band SIGINT requirements on a variety of UAV platforms. We are honored for the trust placed in us by the UK Government, and particularly the MoD and DSTL.
Ian Duke, Managing Director of Linwave Technology, stated, “This is an exciting program to be involved in which will push the boundaries of the technical capabilities in this area. The funding is critical to enable SMEs such as ours to collaborate and deliver world-leading products to support critical applications on behalf of the UK government. Linwave are proud to be working alongside our long-term associates at Horizon Technologies to deliver mission critical capabilities”.
The collaboration between Horizon Technologies and Linwave represents a significant stride in the two companies cooperative efforts to meet the most demanding requirements of our customers.
