Latest news with #radar
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
MoD plots £1.5bn radar upgrade as wind farms threaten to conceal attacks
Military chiefs are planning a £1.5bn upgrade of Britain's radar defences amid fears that the growing number of wind farms risks leaving the country blind to attacks. Under the Ministry of Defence's 'Njord' programme, named after the Norse god of sea and wind, seven air defence radar stations around the country will be replaced or improved to ensure they are not confused by interference from turbines. There are already 3,352 operational or under-construction wind turbines in UK waters, according to the Crown Estate, with another 1,000 at least set to be deployed by 2030 to meet the Government's net zero targets. Without measures to tackle the problem, military chiefs fear the interference will impede the ability of the Royal Air Force to detect enemy missiles and aircraft. Each radar station upgrade will be worth up to £210m and the Ministry of Defence opened the bidding process earlier this year, with several unnamed defence companies in the running. An industry source said: 'They are concerned that, without mitigation, you are going to see a deterioration of radar coverage if you build all the wind farms envisaged under the 2030 targets. 'That would potentially reduce the time you have to respond to threats, as well as the probability of detecting them, and so would leave the country more vulnerable to attacks.' The interference problem occurs when turbine blades reflect the electromagnetic pulses pinged out by radar stations, generating unhelpful background noise for the system operators. Each blade on a turbine can generate a false return, creating the potential for massive disruption from some sites. The first two phases of Dogger Bank, the UK's biggest wind farm, boast 190 turbines alone. But the Ministry of Defence has warned that every wind farm that is built 'will have a unique, detrimental impact' on its ability to detect threats such as missiles or hostile aircraft, 'as they reduce the volume of air space that the radars can effectively survey'. As a result, military officials have been studying options to fix the problem. This could include attempting to mask the turbines by putting radar-absorbing paint on them – similar to the kind used by stealth aircraft such as the F-35 – or through computer software fixes that scrub phoney signals out of readings automatically. Other companies have suggested turning the wind turbines themselves into assets, rather than liabilities, by fixing an array of sensors to them such as cameras, microphones and radio aerials that could detect the presence of enemy threats. Under the upgrade plans, work on the first four sites – Neatishead in Norfolk, Staxton Wold in North Yorkshire, Brizlee Wood in Northumberland and Buchan in Aberdeenshire – would begin in July 2026, according to transparency documents. Work is expected to start on the other three – Saxa Vord in the Shetlands, Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides and Portreath in Cornwall – in October 2027. The contracts are expected to last for 120 weeks. An MoD spokesman said: 'As we build the next generation of large-scale offshore windfarms, we are looking at innovative ways to mitigate any impact on the UK's air defence capability.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
MoD plots £1.5bn radar upgrade as wind farms threaten to conceal attacks
Military chiefs are planning a £1.5bn upgrade of Britain's radar defences amid fears that the growing number of wind farms risks leaving the country blind to attacks. Under the Ministry of Defence's 'Njord' programme, named after the Norse god of sea and wind, seven air defence radar stations around the country will be replaced or improved to ensure they are not confused by interference from turbines. There are already 3,352 operational or under-construction wind turbines in UK waters, according to the Crown Estate, with another 1,000 at least set to be deployed by 2030 to meet the Government's net zero targets. Without measures to tackle the problem, military chiefs fear the interference will impede the ability of the Royal Air Force to detect enemy missiles and aircraft. Each radar station upgrade will be worth up to £210m and the Ministry of Defence opened the bidding process earlier this year, with several unnamed defence companies in the running. An industry source said: 'They are concerned that, without mitigation, you are going to see a deterioration of radar coverage if you build all the wind farms envisaged under the 2030 targets. 'That would potentially reduce the time you have to respond to threats, as well as the probability of detecting them, and so would leave the country more vulnerable to attacks.' 'A unique and detrimental impact' The interference problem occurs when turbine blades reflect the electromagnetic pulses pinged out by radar stations, generating unhelpful background noise for the system operators. Each blade on a turbine can generate a false return, creating the potential for massive disruption from some sites.
Phone Arena
3 days ago
- Climate
- Phone Arena
Google tweaks the Pixel Weather app and makes it look better
Google really did a great job with the Pixel Weather app making it much more useful than the old Weather app that starred Froggy. Instead of a cute animation, the app is now loaded with data including an hourly forecast, a 10-day forecast, Wind speed, Precipitation, Visibility, the UV index, Humidity, Air Quality, and more. You can have the app show the weather for your current location or add more locations if you want to monitor the weather where your kids are living, or want to know the conditions where other family members or friends live. If you're planning a vacation or embarking on a business trip, you might want to know what to expect weather-wise when you arrive at your destination. The Pixel Weather app also features a Weather map which uses radar to show expected precipitation in your area over the next six-hours. With the map, you can pinch out to zoom in if you want to see a more local look at the radar in your area. If you'd rather see what the radar shows for several states near you, pinch in on the screen to zoom out. The severity of the precipitation expected in a particular area is represented by the different colors used by the radar that cover that area of the map. The old design of the Weather map on the Pixel Weather app in on the left with the new floating card look on the right. | Image credit-9to5Google Google has improved the design of the Weather map by changing the bottom sheet showing the time, the circular play/pause button for the radar, and the radar's timeline controls. With the change, the bottom is now a floating card which shows some of the map underneath the card at the left, right, and bottom of the floating card. This replaces the previous look that covered the map with the bottom sheet. You can see this in the screenshots we've embedded in this article. Most of you might consider this to be a minor change that is not a big deal but it does improve the look of the app. It also makes the Pixel Weather app more consistent across different Pixel models since the Pixel Tablet and the Pixel Fold, both large-screen devices, already use the floating card design for the Pixel Weather app. The new version of the Weather map comes with version 1.0.20250408.758982743 of the Pixel Weather app which was disseminated over the last few days. It's another example of Google tinkering with an app and making a minor change that improves the look of the app. You can install the Pixel Weather app from the Play Store by tapping on this link.
Zawya
23-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Hensoldt to sell South African optronics business, says source
Reuters - German defence electronics maker Hensoldt plans to divest its optronic subsidiary in South Africa, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday. The source said that the firm is in talks with around twenty parties for the transaction to divest the subsidiary, which generates around 15 million euros ($17.02 million) but operates at a loss. Hensoldt, which produces radar and high precision optics used in aircraft, ships and tanks, declined to comment. The news agency Bloomberg first reported on the plan. The subsidiary produces, among other things, cameras for helicopters and drones. ($1 = 0.8814 euros) Reuters
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
World's Most Secretive 737 'RAT55' Just Made A Rare Public Appearance
RAT55, U.S. Air Force Materiel Command's extremely shy NT-43A/737-200 converted into a grotesquely modified radar cross-section measurement platform just flew across the country for an unknown reason. During its trip, it made two stops, one in Arkansas and one in Texas, the latter offering very rare close-up views of Earth's most fascinating 737 going about its business. RAT55 arrived at Rick Husband International Airport in Amarillo, Texas, 'at 2:40 pm and departed at 3:40 pm. It was cleared back to Tenopah Test Range Airport,' Jason Zicker, an aviation photographer who took the videos below and posted them on social media, told TWZ. Zicker said he was alerted to RAT55's arrival by a fellow plane spotter. — Jason (@JasonZicker) May 22, 2025 RATT55 departing KAMA — Jason (@JasonZicker) May 22, 2025 'As far as I know, it was just for gas,' said Zicker, who was kind enough to let us use his video. 'RAT55 did have a flight plan to come here a couple of months ago, but never showed up.' The aircraft flew from the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) to Northwest Arkansas National Airport. It stopped at Amarillo on the way back, likely for fuel. It isn't clear why it went to Arkansas at this time. We asked Air Force Materiel Command if they could provide any information as to RAT55's puzzling trip and they replied: 'Regarding your query, I do not have any details to provide.' It is interesting to note that King Aerospace has a presence at Northwest Arkansas National Airport. In 2022, RAT55 appeared at a different King Aerospace facility at Admore Municipal Airport in Oklahoma during another rare outing. Whether or not its latest trip is again tied to a visit to this company, which specializes in heavy maintenance and deep modification work, including for the U.S. military, is unknown at this time. TWZ has reached out to King Aerospace for more information. #A10635 as #RATT55/#STORMY29Up from Groom Lake KXTA to Northwestern Arkansas National Airport KXNA. Audio of STORMY29/RATT55 getting cleared to land at KXNA. — Norb (@norb420) May 20, 2025 The name RAT55 is actually used for the jet's callsign, although as RATT55, with an extra t. On this particular outing, the jet has been using the callsign Stormy 29. Looks like their callsign today was STRMY29 and not RATT55 — Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) May 21, 2025 The 'RAT' in the name stands for Radar Airborne Testbed, while the '55' refers to the last two digits in its tail number. RAT55 spends most of its flying life in the vast and remote range complexes that span South-Central California and Southern Nevada. The aircraft seems to live at the high-security Tonopah Test Range Airport (TTR) — famous for its shadowy aircraft programs — and spends time in the skies near Area 51 and Edwards Air Force Base. While the one-off NT-43A has ventured beyond its usual protected operational confines — it needs major servicing just like any other 737 — usually these trips seem to be planned to expose the aircraft to minimal public eyeballs. That is clearly no longer the goal. Regardless, RAT55 is unlike any other aircraft on the planet, and it is absolutely critical to the development and sustainment of America's aerial stealth technology. Simply put, RAT55 uses its two huge radar arrays — one front and one back — to take fine measurements of the radar signatures of stealthy aircraft while flying through the air near them. It does this to validate low-observable designs and skin treatments. It also has electro-optical/infrared capabilities above its radomes and can be fitted with dorsal fairings for other systems. While there are facilities on the ground that can take similar measurements of aircraft flying through the air, doing it from another specially-equipped aircraft in the air allows the target to be measured from every angle, including from overhead aspects, and continuously. Even when B-2 Spirits come out of depot maintenance, they usually spend time in the sky with RAT55 to validate that the work done fits established design goals and parameters. That is the most visible of the NT-43A's work, but the aircraft is also involved with the most advanced and secretive stealth aircraft development programs in the Pentagon's portfolio, many of which we don't know about and likely never will. Got a glimpse of #rat55 while in Death Valley this week with a #B2 bomber — Marc Bierdzinski (@mbplan) October 29, 2020 Considering all of the combat aviation developments now underway in a new era of so-called 'great power competition,' RAT55 is presumably busier than ever, and will be flooded with work soon as many programs mature into a flying state. From the B-21, to a plethora of new advanced drones, to the F-47 next-generation fighter, the stealth business is booming. At the same time, RAT55 is a very old aircraft, and dwindling support for first-generation 737s is surely becoming an issue. With this in mind, it is somewhat puzzling why it isn't being replaced or at least augmented. Then again, it could be, and we won't know until that new aircraft materializes somewhere. That's the abbreviated version of what we know about RAT55, you can read more about the aircraft and see the best images ever taken of it in this past feature of ours. While we don't know why RAT55 came out of the shadows for this jaunt across the U.S., it sure was a great opportunity for aviation enthusiasts to spot a truly one-of-a-kind plane, and a very clandestine one at that. Contact the author: Tyler@
