Kongsberg has selected Echodyne’s MESA radar platform for a range of air and surface applications, with initial integration into the PROTECTOR RS4 and PROTECTOR RS6 remote weapon stations as part of counter-uncrewed aircraft system (C-UAS) configurations.
According to Echodyne, the radar integration is intended to provide higher-quality tracking data to support fire-control functions, including cueing optical systems, sustaining target lock and shortening the timeline from detection to engagement against small drones.
Echodyne CEO Eben Frankenberg said the integration is designed to provide “precise, stable and persistent tracks” for the PROTECTOR family’s fire-control system against low-signature drone threats, and that the radar’s software-defined design is intended to scale across existing deployments.
The companies said the MESA radar supplies range, range-rate, bearing and kinematic data to support firing solutions, including for programmable airburst munitions where accurate ranging is required to time the munition’s effect in the target’s flight path. They also described a networked operating model in which a cooperative search radar or another sensor provides an initial track, with the locally mounted radar refining it for fire-control use.
Echodyne and Kongsberg said the integration and demonstrations have been developed over multiple years of testing, and that the companies are exploring additional uses for radar across other air and surface missions within Kongsberg’s portfolio.
Both companies are scheduled to exhibit at the 34th International Defence Industry Exhibition (MSPO) in Kielce, Poland, from September 8–11, 2026.
