Capital University of Science & Technology (CUST), Islamabad recently conducted a field trial for Pakistan’s first ever Phased Array Radar (PAR).
Pioneered by the Controls and Signal Processing Research (CASPR) department of CUST, the radar will be used for air surveillance.
Traditional radars tend to use large dish rotating antennas, while newer radars move their radio beams electronically. To accomplish this feat, calculations have to be precise to one billionth of a second, an achievement CUST has successfully claimed.
Professor Aamer Iqbal Bhatti, accompanied by his former PhD student, worked on a plan to design and develop a prototype for the PAR. After receiving approval for funding, the professor assembled a team to undertake the project.
Experts such as Dr Inam Ilahi Rana of Bismillah Electronics, a respected authority on microwave transmissions, undertook the microwave subsystem of the radar, while a relatively new company, Renzym, worked on the signal processing module of the PAR.
Changes in political regimes meant the project did not get the necessary support from sponsors, but the project persevered.
The first field test was conducted at the rooftop of Mohammad Ali Jinnah University in 2011. Despite its success, financial constraints plagued the project.
Bismillah Electronics and Renzym stayed on despite the problems and the project continued.
After completing the circuits and signal processing modules by 2016, and after the required testing phase, work on the Phase Array Radar concluded.
The Phase Array Radar has defence applications and will assist the Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force, and Pakistan Navy.
