After more than a decade of development, State-owned defence industrial group Denel’s Overberg Test Range (OTR) division passed a milestone as the implementation of the replacement of its tracking radar main system computer (TRMSC) was accepted, Denel OTR CEO Abrie van der Walt said on Tuesday.

Denel OTR, an aircraft and missile test and evaluation complex, hosts an extensive array of optical, telemetry, radar, communication and meteorological instruments that cater for a spectrum of aircraft and missile flight-testing.

The division kicked off technology renewal projects to revamp the TRMSC, as the original system computer, which dated back to the 1980s, became difficult to maintain, with scarce spare parts and obsolete components.

The renewal project had, after more than ten years, numerous challenges and several tests, delivered a tracking radar computer built from easy-to-maintain, universal modern computer hardware, with associated software that could be modified and compiled on the latest operating systems.

The initiated renewal projects included the upgrade and adaptation of OTR’s three tracking radars – high-precision radars that can detect and track a target autonomously – which were critical to the core capabilities of providing primary real-time tracking data.

“The project was considered too high-risk to do everything at once and, therefore, it was broken into smaller phases that were measurable. It was also important to have the new TRMSC to replicate and/or emulate the existing radar interfaces and timing loops,” said Van der Walt.

The results of the first series of acceptance tests, which were undertaken in March 2012 using a balloon, had provided the basis for the final changes and modifications to the software, while the more comprehensive, second series of tests in March 2013, included the tracking of empirical, static and dynamic targets, calibration routines and the verification of the radar software functionalities.

“This successful collaboration is phenomenal testimony of the high level of skill and knowledge that exists at the Test Range. This is one of the achievements that provide us with the necessary impetus and confidence to continue building capacity and implementing new technologies that satisfy our clients’ requirements,” Van der Walt concluded.