Arbe announced the latest system Alerion on September 14, describing it as the company’s entry into the counter-drone and homeland-security markets. The radar is intended to identify first-person-view (FPV), miniature, autonomous and fiber-optic-controlled drones – aircraft that can be difficult to locate with sensors dependent on radio-frequency emissions. The company says Alerion has already undergone field testing for defence applications and is being evaluated by counter-unmanned aircraft system integrators internationally.
The system addresses a growing weakness in layered air defences. Many counter-drone systems begin by detecting the radio link between an operator and an aircraft, then attempt to disrupt or locate that connection. Fibre-optic drones complicate that approach: instead of communicating wirelessly, they trail a physical fibre-optic cable to the operator, leaving little or no radio signal to intercept. Autonomous drones can present a similar challenge when they operate without an active command link.
Alerion is designed to detect the aircraft itself through radar reflections rather than searching for its emissions. That allows it to maintain a track even when a drone is controlled through fibre optics, flies autonomously, or loses communications during an electronic attack. The company says the radar can continue tracking from initial detection through the final approach, where low altitude, rapid manoeuvring and buildings, trees or other ground clutter can make small aircraft especially difficult to follow.
Arbe describes Alerion as a sensing layer rather than a complete counter-drone weapon. Within a wider architecture, its data could cue electro-optical or infrared cameras for identification, feed command-and-control software, and help direct an interceptor, jammer or other effector. The radar is also designed to distinguish drones from birds, vehicles, vegetation and buildings, a capability intended to reduce false alarms and improve the accuracy of subsequent engagement decisions.
The company’s product information identifies the radar as a 4D system, meaning it measures range, azimuth, elevation and Doppler-related motion. Arbe says its architecture uses 48 transmitting and 48 receiving channels, creating 2,304 virtual channels for detailed spatial resolution. The manufacturer claims the design can support detection in rain, fog, dust and smoke, when optical sensors may be degraded.
Alerion’s physical design is aimed at making deployment more flexible. Arbe lists dimensions of 135 by 103 by 42 millimetres and power consumption of 28 watts. Its solid-state construction has no moving parts, which the company says supports use on vehicles, portable systems, temporary installations and fixed sites. The low size, weight, power and cost profile could be important for protecting distributed targets rather than relying solely on large, permanently installed radar systems.
The radar’s development builds on Arbe’s automotive technology. The company says its broader radar platform includes proprietary transmitter and receiver chips, dedicated processing hardware and artificial-intelligence algorithms. Translating that technology into defence could give Arbe access to a market shaped by demand for affordable sensors capable of countering large numbers of inexpensive drones.
Still, the announcement provides no independent performance figures for detection range, classification accuracy, resistance to deliberate radar interference or successful operational deployments. Those measures will determine whether Alerion can move beyond field trials and compete in crowded counter-UAS markets.
Arbe plans to showcase the system at Counter-UAS Homeland Security Europe in London on September 23-24. The event will offer potential customers and integrators an early opportunity to assess whether the compact radar can close one of the most persistent gaps in modern drone defence: finding small aircraft that emit little, or no, radio signal.
