Echodyne

Echodyne set out to make electronically scanned array radar small and cheap enough to put almost anywhere, and it got there by changing the antenna rather than the electronics behind it. The company was founded in 2014 as a spinout from Intellectual Ventures, drawing on metamaterials research associated with Duke University, and is based in Kirkland, Washington with manufacturing in the Seattle area. Eben Frankenberg has been chief executive from the start and Tom Driscoll is chief technology officer. Bill Gates was an early backer, and the investor list since has included Madrona, New Enterprise Associates, Vanedge Capital, Baillie Gifford and Intellectual Ventures. The company has raised roughly 200 million dollars and put a further 40 million into expanding its Washington manufacturing.

MESA, for metamaterials electronically scanned array, is the underlying technology. A conventional phased array steers its beam with an expensive lattice of transmit and receive modules and phase shifters. MESA uses an engineered surface whose elements are tuned to do the same job, which strips out most of that cost and weight while keeping software-directed beam agility and avoiding the moving parts of a mechanically scanned radar. The practical result is a radar one person can carry, mount on a mast, a vehicle, a boat or an aircraft, and that needs no maintenance regime built around a rotating joint.

Three radars cover the range. EchoGuard is the compact short-range FMCW system, the low size, weight and power option used for perimeter and ground surveillance, counter-drone detection and integration into weapon systems where track quality matters more than raw range. EchoShield is the larger software-defined pulse Doppler 4D radar operating in Ku band, the flagship for medium-range site protection, force protection and counter-UAS, and the one built to be re-tasked between modes in software rather than swapped for different hardware. EchoFlight is the airborne system, designed for detect-and-avoid and surveillance from uncrewed and crewed aircraft. EchoWare is the software layer that ties them together, sitting between the radars and a customer's command and control system and managing anything from one tactical radar to a multi-site network.

The customer base is broad for a radar company of this size, spread across defence, government, critical infrastructure and unmanned aviation in more than 40 countries. Defence applications run to counter-UAS, on-the-move radar, ISR and weapon system cueing. Civil and infrastructure work covers airports, ports, oil and gas sites, data centres, stadiums, utilities, correctional facilities and border and perimeter security. The unmanned aviation side supports drone as first responder operations, ground stations, airborne detect-and-avoid and automated landing site monitoring, which is the sensing that beyond visual line of sight flight approvals depend on.

Echodyne sells components more often than complete systems, which means its radars show up inside other companies' products. EchoShield was selected as the primary sensor for the Small Unmanned Air Defense System that Trust Automation is delivering to the US Air Force, and Echodyne has supplied tactical 360 degree radars destined for Ukraine under US State Department funding. The firm holds AS9100D and ISO 9001 certification and says it serves hundreds of integrators, suppliers and end users.