Echodyne, uAvionix and Kongsberg Geospatial Partner to Provide World’s Most Affordable 3D Radar Counter UAS System

Written by Kongsberg Geospatial on

April 26, 2018

Posted in News

Ottawa, CA: Kongsberg Geospatial, Echodyne Corp, and uAvionix announced today that they have integrated their technologies to create a new counter-drone system called “ARGUS CUAS”, the world’s most affordable 3D Radar Counter-UAS System.


The ARGUS CUAS System integrates the Echodyne MESA radar with uAvionix cooperative aircraft tracking capabilities for display in the Kongsberg Geospatial IRIS Airspace Management Application

Kongsberg Geospatial is a geospatial software company based in Ottawa, Canada, while Echodyne Corp is a radar technology company based in Bellevue, WA, and uAvionix is a technology company based in Bigfork, MT that specializes in creating cooperative aircraft transponders and surveillance systems for drones.

The three companies have combined their technologies to create a portable tracking system capable of detecting any drones that enter a monitored airspace. The ARGUS CUAS (counter-UAS) system provides 3-dimensional, all weather coverage and accurate positioning of airborne targets. The system can detect even the smallest UAVs at long ranges and the system is intended for organizations that need to monitor the position of any drones flying in their local airspace.

Likely users would include airports, prisons, police forces protecting public events, and emergency rescue organizations who need to keep the airspace clear surrounding disaster scenes and wildfires. The ARGUS CUAS system been designed for quick deployment, and can be set up at virtually any location within minutes.

“Security has gone from a 2D problem to a 3D problem,” said Echodyne CEO Eben Frankenberg. “ARGUS CUAS answers a market need for an affordable and deployable system that can provide long-range all-weather detection.”

Existing counter-UAS systems tend to be dependent on expensive and bulky radar systems. The new system the three companies have developed leverages Echodyne’s small but powerful MESA radar, and cooperative aircraft tracking capabilities provided by uAvionix to provide high visibility of the airspace in a very lightweight, portable system. The ARGUS CUAS system also improves on the complicated mixture of sensor feeds that are typical of counter-UAS systems – offering a simple, intuitive user interface developed by Kongsberg Geospatial that allows users to quickly visualize, understand, and track all targets present in the 3-dimensional airspace around the location where the system is deployed.

“Accurately positioning cooperative and non-cooperative airborne targets requires high performance technology” said Christian Ramsey, President of uAvionix “We are very pleased by the field trial results of this system”.

Build Your Own UAS Sensor Data Solution with TerraLens®

Real-Time Geospatial SDK

Learn More

Build Your Own Multi-Domain Display with TerraLens®

Real-Time Geospatial SDK

Learn More

Learn More

Build Your Own UAS Control System with TerraLens®

Real-Time Geospatial SDK

Learn More

Build Your Own Counter-UAS System with TerraLens®

Real-Time Geospatial SDK

Learn More

Learn More

“We welcome the opportunity to work with world-class partners like Echodyne and uAvionix” said Ranald McGillis, President of Kongsberg Geospatial. “Our customers are seeking an affordable CUAS system and ARGUS CUAS provides a best-in-class solution to this growing demand. Integrating our three company’s capabilities creates a tremendous capability at an affordable price.”

About Kongsberg Geospatial: Based in Ottawa, Canada, Kongsberg Geospatial creates precision real-time software for mapping, geospatial visualization, and situational awareness. The Company’s products are primarily deployed in solutions for air-traffic control, Command and Control, and air defense. Over nearly three decades of providing dependable performance under extreme conditions, Kongsberg Geospatial has become the leading geospatial technology provider for mission-critical applications where lives are on the line. Kongsberg Geospatial is a subsidiary of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.

Media contact:1-800-267-2626 or reach us by email at info@kongsberggeospatial.com

About Echodyne: : Echodyne is making the world a safer place through breakthrough radar vision technology for the autonomous era. Echodyne’s patented Metamaterial Electronically Scanning Array (MESA) provides disruptive capabilities for existing radar applications, and enables high performance commercial radars never before thought possible such as small, lightweight, high performance radars for UAVs, autonomous cars and trucks, and security surveillance systems. Echodyne is a privately held company backed by Bill Gates, Madrona Venture Group, Vulcan Capital, Lux Capital, and The Kresge Foundation, among others.

Media contact: Leo A. McCloskey at leo@echodyne.com or 425-753-7015

Contact Us

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.