OVERVIEW
Naval forces operating Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) and amphibious ships must be able to counter modern aerial and surface threats while maintaining affordability, facing drones, UAV swarms, sea-skimming missiles, and asymmetric surface threats such as fast attack craft, while many smaller ships lack the space, weight, and power capacity to host large radar systems, creating capability gaps in surveillance, classification, and response. A cost-effective, compact radar is required to deliver reliable 3D situational awareness and threat alert capabilities without compromising ship performance, and IAI ELTA’s STAR-X (ELM-2238X) is a compact, multi-mission surveillance radar system tailored to the operational profiles of OPVs and LPDs that provides this solution.
HIGHLIGHTS
- 3D simultaneous air and surface surveillance with fast target alert, Digital Beam Forming in elevation
- Configurable software-defined radar adaptable for emerging future threats
- Advanced ECCM
- Integrated IFF (includes interrogator and antenna)
- Low Probability of Intercept (LPI) capabilities
- GaN (Gallium-Nitride) Solid-state transmitters
- High reliability with graceful performance degradation – Tx/Rx independent channels
Values & Benefits
Operating in the X-band, STAR-X utilizes Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) technology with digital beamforming in elevation to provide simultaneous 3D coverage of both air and surface targets.
STAR-X detects, tracks, and classifies a wide range of threats, from surface vessels and helicopters to jet fighters, UAVs, and low-RCS missiles, under complex and cluttered conditions. Its software-defined radar architecture allows rapid updates and doctrinal changes to counter emerging threats.
Built with GaN solid-state transmitters, STAR-X achieves a lightweight, low Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) design suitable for smaller vessels while maintaining high reliability and graceful performance degradation across independent Tx/Rx channels.
The radar integrates seamlessly with shipborne CMS and air defence systems and includes built-in IFF and gunnery control capabilities. STAR-X can also function as a secondary search radar on larger naval platforms, providing additional redundancy and situational awareness, enhancing the Situational Awareness Picture (SAP) and supporting missions from EEZ enforcement and counterterrorism to smuggling and piracy prevention, search and rescue, amphibious operations, and open-sea combat scenarios.
