MIMO Radar Projects

MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) radar uses multiple transmit and multiple receive antenna elements, each carrying a distinguishable waveform, so that the receiver can resolve signals from every transmit/receive antenna pair. Combining those pairs synthesizes a much larger virtual array than the number of physical antennas actually present — the standard way modern digital radar achieves high angular resolution and 3D/4D (azimuth, elevation, range, and often velocity) imaging without the size, weight, power, and cost of a large mechanically-scanned or fully-populated phased array.

Relationship to other entries in this section: MIMO is an antenna/waveform architecture, not a detection algorithm — it is usually paired with micro-Doppler processing for the actual drone-vs-bird classification step once the MIMO array has localized a target. It’s also a distinct approach from the metamaterial-based electronically-scanned-array (MESA) radar used by Echodyne — both are digital, software-defined radar architectures aimed at similar SWaP-C goals, but MIMO’s virtual-aperture technique and MESA’s beam-steering metamaterial antenna are different ways of getting there. Several vendors described elsewhere in this section (e.g., DroneShield’s RPS-82, sourced from RADA/Leonardo DRS) use radar built on MIMO-related digital array techniques without necessarily branding the product “MIMO” — this subtopic collects the companies and research projects that build or explicitly market the underlying MIMO radar technology itself.

Entries

• Advanced Protection Systems (APS) — Polish FIELDctrl 3D MIMO radar family, purpose-built for C-UAS; Access/Advance/Range/Ultra tiers from short-range perimeter to airport/border-scale detection
• RADA / Leonardo DRS — Israeli-origin, now Leonardo DRS-owned; Multi-Mission Hemispheric Radar (MHR) family uses a digital MIMO radar architecture for 4D AESA pulse-Doppler detection; RPS-42/RPS-82 variants integrated into third-party C-UAS products including DroneShield
• Fraunhofer FHR — German research institute; dedicated “Drone Detection with MIMO Radar” research line and the AKIRA project building a 3D-MIMO ground-radar network for urban drone traffic monitoring up to 100m altitude
• Vayyar Imaging — Israeli radar-on-chip maker; XRR single-chip MIMO RFIC (48 transceivers) built for automotive 4D imaging, marketed into public-safety/security screening — a dual-use MIMO chip platform, not a fielded C-UAS product
• Uhnder — Austin, Texas digital MIMO radar-on-chip maker (S-series, up to 96 MIMO channels); automotive ADAS-focused today, included here as the enabling chip technology behind the low-cost 4D imaging radar trend relevant to future small/cheap counter-drone sensors

Why MIMO Matters for Drone Detection

Small drones present a hard radar problem: low radar cross-section, low/zero translational velocity when hovering, and a need for angular precision (not just detection) to hand off accurate track data to a classifier or an effector. A MIMO array’s synthesized virtual aperture gives more independent look angles from fewer physical antennas than a conventional array, which is what lets several of the systems in this subtopic claim 3D (and in some cases 4D, adding a velocity/Doppler dimension) target imaging in a compact, relatively low-cost, solid-state package — the same SWaP-C pressure driving Echodyne’s MESA and the miniaturized designs in Fraunhofer FHR’s work. Fraunhofer’s AKIRA project is a useful illustration of where this is headed beyond pure security: the same MIMO ground-radar network concept proposed for detecting hostile or unauthorized drones is also being pitched as the sensing backbone for lawful, cooperative drone-traffic management in cities — a genuinely dual-use architecture.

Companies & Research Institutes