Keysight Awarded NATO FORACS Contract to Enhance Operational Readiness

Provides advanced radar target generation and EW threat simulation solutions to strengthen NATO’s radar and electronic support measures capabilities across member nations

Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: KEYS) has been awarded a contract with NATO’s Naval Forces Sensor and Weapons Accuracy Check Sites (FORACS) to modernize its testing capabilities for critical radar and electronic support measures (ESM) systems. Under this agreement, Keysight will deliver Radar Target Generator and Electronic Warfare testing (EW) solutions to be deployed at NATO Navy bases, enabling the calibration and maintenance of NATO radar systems and the assessment of ESM effectiveness.

Modern military and naval forces depend heavily on the accuracy and reliability of their radar and ESM systems for maintaining situational awareness, effective targeting, and timely threat detection. In an era of increasingly complex and rapidly evolving electronic warfare threats, defense organizations require sophisticated, high-fidelity test environments. These environments must be capable of replicating real-world scenarios with dynamic multi-emitter signals, advanced threat modeling, and closed-loop testing methodologies.

Keysight’s Radar Target Generator and EW solutions are designed to meet these demanding requirements, empowering NATO FORACS to rigorously assess and optimize the operational readiness of radar and ESM systems across all member nations. The contract encompasses the integration and delivery of next-generation Radar Target Generators and EW threat simulators. This will ensure enhanced accuracy verification and thorough system performance testing within complex electromagnetic environments. Notably, the Radar Target Generator leverages commercial-off-the-shelf Keysight components, featuring customized firmware and a graphical user interface developed entirely in Europe and tailored to meet NATO’s specific requirements.

The systems that Keysight will deliver to NATO is defined by several key factors, including:

• High-fidelity radar target generation: Simulates precise radar returns, including Doppler shift, range, and cross-section variability, enabling accurate testing of radar tracking.
• Sophisticated EW threat simulation: Creates complex electromagnetic threat environments with multi-emitter interference, jamming, and deceptive techniques to evaluate ESM system effectiveness.
• Customizable, open-architecture design: The modular hardware and software framework allows for incremental system upgrades, ensuring adaptability to future mission requirements.
• Deployable and modular configuration: Designed for field and lab deployment, providing flexible testing capability across multiple NATO sites.

The NATO FORACS Office in NATO Headquarters in Brussels, reported: “The NATO FORACS Office is pleased to note the placement of this contract which will supply important equipment to restore NATO FORACS’ core radar and ESM testing capabilities in order to meet its users’ evolving demands.”

Thierry Locquette, EMEA VP and GM at Keysight, said: “NATO’s ability to verify and enhance the accuracy of its radar and ESM systems is critical to mission success in today’s contested electromagnetic spectrum environment. Keysight is proud to provide the cutting-edge solutions necessary to enable NATO FORACS to maintain the highest levels of sensor performance, ensuring operational superiority across allied forces. Our Radar Target Generator solution was developed in Europe, working closely with our local R&D and solution centers as well as with European technology partners to provide a highly realistic, flexible, and future-ready test capability for NATO’s evolving defense needs.”

Credit: Keysight