PANAGYURISHTE, Bulgaria (BulgarianMilitary.com), June 21, 2018, Author: Bm Team, Photo credit: Optix Co.

The SafeShore detection system, developed with the participation of the Bulgarian company OPTIX JSC, was shown on 25th May 2018 in the first demo event at the North Sea shoreline in Nieuwpoort (Belgium), announced to BulgarianMilitary.com from Optix co.

The event was attended by end-users, EC members and representatives of the local and national press and television.

First the objectives and current achievements of the SafeShore Project were presented to the attendees, after which there was a demonstration of the system on the beach.

The system may detect and track various types of vessels, individual people, swimming or paddling towards the shore, low altitude airborne objects in the shape of drones, etc. However, as of the moment, the SafeShore cannot distinguish a drone from a flying bird, for example, that is why it will not be operational immediately.

The SafeShore Project is funded by the European Commission and is being implemented by a consortium of well-balanced combination of partners. One of the key partners is the Bulgarian company OPTIX JSC, which has produced some of the components integrated in the SafeShore system and we, from BulgarianMilitary.com, are very proud of that fact.

The SafeShore features the following basic advantages: low cost per square meter, low weight components, low energy consumption, no need of special cooling system, and solar-based battery charging.

One of the main objectives of the Project is detection of Small Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), which are too small to be detected by regular costal radars due to their low RCS (Radar Cross Section). They may depart from yachts, for example, and be used by smugglers and terrorists. The situation is the same with the low altitude guided parachutes, which are also hard for detection by standard radars. Such parachutes may be dropped from airplanes, which are not visible from the shore, and be used for deploying equipment, explosives, etc. For that purpose 3D LIDAR, which creates a virtual dome shield over the protected area shield with a radius of about 250-300m, is integrated in the system. The SafeShore will be fixed on mobile platforms. For ensuring of a continuous detection shield along the shoreline, there will be overlapping between the areas, protected by each platform of about 50 m.

The SafeShore system will operate in addition to the standard radar systems, by covering the existing gaps in the defence due to technological issues as mentioned above.

BulgarianMilitary.com