Kacey Roberts
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is working with Umbra, Terran Orbital, Northrop Grumman and Jacobs for an experiment that seeks to leverage synthetic aperture radar satellites to advance warfare capabilities, Breaking Defense reported Friday.
DARPA launched the Digital Radar Image Formation Technology program in 2022 to expand the use of commercial SAR satellites in military missions and to support the agency’s Mosaic Warfare initiative, which aims to enhance military multi-domain operations.
Under DRIFT, Umbra and Terran Orbital’s PredaSar will each showcase at least two satellites flying in formation to boost target area visibility and enable advanced imagery fusion. Umbra received a potential $4.5 million contract while PredaSAR booked a $500,000 deal.
Jacobs and Northrop received contracts worth $4 million and $3.9 million, respectively, to process the data gathered from the SAR satellites.
Prototyping and demonstration opportunities may follow after the anticipated months-long conceptual design stage.
DARPA requested a $13 million allocation for the program for its fiscal year 2024 budget appropriation.
