Saab launched a new family of airborne systems at Dubai air show 2011 called AIRTRACER.

It is a scalable configuration of Airborne Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) systems that can be used for strategic and tactical gathering of emissions in the Radar and Communications frequency bands.

The AIRTRACER Airborne SIGINT system is the latest addition to successful systems using the Saab 2000 aircraft which includes the Saab 2000 Erieye AEW&C and the Saab 2000 Maritime Patrol Aircraft.

Flying at high altitude, AIRTRACER can cover a much larger area than conventional ground based SIGINT sensors. The coverage is only limited by the radio horizon which at an altitude of 30,000 feet is around 390km for emitters on the ground. Intercept range towards airborne targets could be further depending on the frequency of operation and the antennas used by the emitter.

¨The Radar and Communications signal environment drastically increased in density as new technologies emerged. Extracting intelligence using an airborne SIGINT system such as AIRTRACER, places high demands on processing abilities. Large amounts of data needs to be evaluated, filtered and stored in-real time. This requires many processes to be performed automatically and that is what AIRTRACER is designed to do¨, said Christo Pelster, Director Business Development SIGINT Systems at Surveillance Solutions, Saab.

The AIRTRACER airborne SIGINT system addresses all the aspects of the intelligence cycle and is supported by a SIGINT Analysis and Control Centre (SACC) which forms the ground segment of AIRTRACER. The mission planning, mission execution (collection), mission updates and compilation of the EOB are performed at the SACC and reported to other intelligence agencies.

¨Operational applications such as Maritime Patrol Aircraft, Multi-Mission Aircraft, AEW&C aircraft or dedicated SIGINT aircraft each place their own unique requirements on airborne SIGINT systems. The AIRTRACER family of systems were designed with scalability in mind and this allows different configurations to be offered for each of the applications¨, Pelster said.