In late 2023, D-TA Systems Inc. was awarded a contract from an Indo-Pacific partner to deliver a lightweight R-ESM system for MALE UAV deployments to detect and classify air and surface naval targets.

D-TA’s MFEL-5000 UAS uses a 4-spiral circular antenna array (3 lbs) for a 360-degree field of view to detect both air and surface/naval threats. The MFEL-5000 UAS system offers some of the highest sensitivity in the market by using 4-phase coherent high-performance superheterodyne receivers to cover a range from 2 to 18 GHz. The receiver system weighs approximately 18 lbs, consumes less than 150W of power, and can be promptly mounted on virtually any surface or air platform. The circular antenna array is mounted on the bottom (belly) of the aircraft, while the receiver is placed inside.

For UAV deployments, the system can directly interact with a ground-based Command & Control or through the on-board mission computer to deliver signal track and bearing information. Emitter identification is performed at the ground station.