Blighter (www.blighter.com), a pioneering designer and manufacturer of ground-based smart electronic-scanning micro-Doppler radars, is showcasing new developments to its border surveillance and coastal security radars, and its AI-assisted BlighterNexus software at this year’s DSEI Defence and Security show. DSEI takes place at the ExCel Centre in London, September 9-12, 2025. Blighter will be on stand number N6-166.
Following a record £25m order book in the last financial year, Blighter is continuing to consolidate its leadership in border surveillance and coastal security by focusing on product innovation to support its defence customers and systems integrator partners.
James Long, CEO at Blighter, says, “It’s been a terrific year for the company having achieved a record order book and recently celebrating ten years since the spin out from our parent company, Plextek. We will continue to put our defence customers and integrators first by making it ever more straightforward and cost-effective for them to buy, deploy and integrate our radars.”
In 2025, Blighter has further strengthened the business case for its low power advanced e-scan radars with a trio of enhancements – new levels of adaptiveness to the environment in its coastal security radars, extending the range of its border surveillance radars, and using artificial intelligence (AI) to transform radar to command and control (C2) system integration.
First, the launch of the BlighterNexus AI-assisted connectivity and processing hub has drastically reduced the training and operational burden on systems integrators seeking to incorporate Blighter’s smart/cognitive ITAR-free 2D, 3D and 4D radars into their C2 systems. Estimated cost savings of up to 20 percent can be achieved by customers and integrators using the AI-assisted software to automate setup, configuration and adjustment of multiple radars to deliver optimum performance even in changing weather conditions.
Second, Blighter’s new B422 long-range border surveillance radar has been enhanced to now detect a person at 15km with just 4 Watts of power. This extended range from 8km to 15km, without the need for additional power, means earlier interception of intruders and significant cost savings for border control operators with fewer radars needed due to the three-fold increase of the radar’s coverage.
Third, Blighter’s engineers have also been working on a government/industry coastal surveillance project. This has resulted in significant improvements to the adaptiveness of the Blighter C400 coastal security radar. Through fine tuning of the electronic scanning beam and the micro-Doppler tracking function, the radar can now automatically and dynamically adapt to the prevailing environmental conditions. This will not only make the coastal radar more effective, but it will also reduce the training and operational burden on customers.
The Blighter C400 radar will be featured on development partner Kirintec’s stand. Kirintec is owned by BAE Systems and specialises in Cyber and Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA), Counter-IED and Counter-UAS technology. “We are looking forward to DSEI and welcoming a host of overseas delegations to our stand, showcasing new technology, discussing collaborative partnerships, and demonstrating how we are responding to the future needs of our defence partners,” says James Long.
Blighter’s ITAR-free smart radars with AI-assisted software deliver up to 360-degrees of pure electronic scanning coverage and are field proven to work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in all weather conditions, detecting, tracking and identifying any human, vehicle/vessel and near ground aerial threats. Blighter radars are trusted by the UK Ministry of Defence for forward operating base (FOB) protection, the South Korean Army for border surveillance along the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), by the United States Air Force for drone detection, and by several Five Eyes/NATO customers for deployment on their mobile surveillance and armoured vehicles.
Blighter introduced the world’s first, non-rotating, solid-state, electronic-scanning, micro-Doppler ground radar in 2003. Today, the product portfolio covers the three domains of land, sea and air with the B400, C400, A400 and A800 family of ground-based radars. The radars’ modular design enables the technology to be deployed on towers and vehicles, and as dismounted portable systems on tripods.
The Blighter radar’s patented, compact design and low-power electronic scanning and frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) technologies contains no moving parts. This ensures ease of installation and ultra-reliable operation with minimal maintenance even in the harshest conditions. For more information about Blighter’s range of electronic scanning radars, please visit www.blighter.com, telephone +44 1223 491122 or email hello@blighter.com.
