Echodyne has opened a new advanced radar manufacturing facility in Washington to meet growing demand for counter-drone, air defense, and airspace-monitoring sensors.
The company will be moving all manufacturing operations from its headquarters to the 86,350-square-foot (8,022-square-meter) facility, backed by a $40-million investment.
With approximately 74,350 square feet (6,907 square meters) of manufacturing space and 12,000 square feet (1,115 square meters) of warehousing, the facility aims to produce more than 30,000 radar units annually and support future products.
Citing the increasing use of drones and other autonomous systems on the battlefield, Echodyne CEO Eben Frankenberg noted how radar performance as well as consistent product availability are requirements for a global supplier.
“The only way to defend against mass is with mass. That requires not just high-performance economical radars, but the ability to manufacture them at scale,” Frankenberg said.
Echodyne Radars
Echodyne highlighted its patented Metamaterials Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) architecture, which achieves electronic beam steering through a fundamentally simpler design.
Unlike conventional electronically scanned array radars that rely on thousands of phase shifters, Echodyne’s MESA features a compact, software-defined radar designed for scalable production while reducing size, weight, power, complexity, and cost.
Echodyne’s radars have been integrated into several platforms developed by defense companies, including Moog and Picogrid.
In April, the company won a contract to provide its radar technology for Trust Automation’s counter-drone platform, which is being delivered to the US Air Force.
