Blighter's Smart E-scan Radars Deployed to Protect Oil Facilities in Petro-piracy Hotspot

• Blighter's C400 series coastline surveillance radars, featuring advanced Doppler signal processing and unique wave and sea clutter filters, provide all-weather 24/7 protection against small shallow-draught vessels favoured by oil pirates and militants

CAMBRIDGE, England, July 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Blighter (www.blighter.com), a pioneering designer and manufacturer of Smart electronic-scanning radars, has deployed its dual-mode Blighter C400 series coastline surveillance technology to protect offshore oil platforms and an onshore refinery in Equatorial Guinea, a Petro-piracy hotspot off the West African coast.

Blighter's C400 series radars have been proven to be highly effective in targeting the growing problem of piracy. It is estimated that the illegal black market for stolen oil is worth over US$1 billion. The radars in Equatorial Guinea are now fully operational following system configuration and training.

According to Blighter, its customer needed a compact coastline radar system that was easy to install, ultra-reliable and could detect, track and classify the small shallow-draught vessels favoured by oil pirates and militants, which typically sit low in the water and move at speed. It was vital that the radar sensor selected provided detection day and night in all weather conditions, including heavy rain, fog and during thunderstorms.

James Long, Blighter's CEO, says: "We know that oil pirates are highly organised and often choose to exploit harsh weather conditions to evade detection with many only becoming active during heavy rains or high sea states. Our C400 radar systems were chosen to plug the gap in our customer's defences as our sensors are specifically designed to detect even the smallest uncooperative targets in complex, cluttered and extreme environments."

Blighter's C400 radars have several features that make them suitable for coastline surveillance, and particularly for detecting uncooperative targets. First, the compact design and low-power electronically 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 marine conditions. The C400 series is IP66-rated and MIL-STD-810F compliant.

Second, the Blighter C400 series radar uses advanced Doppler signal processing to provide the ability to precisely examine the motion of waterborne objects with respect to waves or ripples on the water surface. Unlike traditional Doppler radars, the C400 series characterises non-moving targets using the static target detector so that moored boats, buoys and other structures remain visible on the radar screen.

Third, the radar's built-in sea clutter filter automatically adapts to changing sea states and wave conditions to remove the unwanted radar signal produced by waves using both velocity (speed) and amplitude (height) characteristics.

Blighter radar's e-scan antenna technology and FMCW design also allows it to be mounted high on offshore platforms and onshore towers and still detect targets close to the platform or shore as well as those further away. In Equatorial Guinea, the detection range of the C400 radars is around 20km. Importantly, all of the radars deployed are networked together to provide onshore controllers with a common operating picture (COP) of the offshore and onshore facilities.

"We are delighted to see that our radar technology is continuing to be used to combat the costly problem of Petro-piracy in the oil and gas industry," says James Long, Blighter's CEO. "Our C400 radars have proved to be highly effective against piracy and their dual mode operation allows detection of small and/or slow-moving boats at sea as well as ground targets such as intruders on the coastline shore."

The Blighter C400 series radar can be integrated into a larger coastal security system incorporating day/night and fog penetrating electro-optical camera systems, AIS (automatic identification system), other boat transponder/tracking systems and CCTV. These elements can all be controlled through Blighter's command and control (C2) software platform.

Blighter C400 series radars are also suitable for other coastal security applications including seaport security surveillance and water-side security of land based coastal assets, such as desalination plants, nuclear power stations, palaces and other high value assets.

For more information about the Blighter C400 coastline surveillance radar, please visit www.blighter.com, telephone +44 1223 491122 or email hello@blighter.com. Or come and meet the team on Stand N6-166 at the DSEI Defence and Security show taking place at the ExCel Centre in London, from 9-12 September 2025.

Media Photos:  
https://www.blighter.com/wp-content/uploads/Harsh-Weather-Landscape-Oil-Rig-C400.jpg
https://www.blighter.com/wp-content/uploads/harsh-weather-Square-offshore-and-C400.jpg
https://www.blighter.com/wp-content/uploads/Landscape-C400.jpg
https://www.blighter.com/wp-content/uploads/James-Long-Blighter-Radars.jpg

Datasheet:  
https://www.blighter.com/wp-content/uploads/blighter-c400-series-radars-datasheet-bss-1706.pdf

About Blighter (www.blighter.com)

Blighter, Cambridge UK, is a pioneering designer and manufacturer of ground-based electronic-scanning radars for surveillance of moving objects on the ground, along coastlines and in the air. Blighter radars use patented ultra-reliable, low SWaP - size, weight, and power (4 Watts) - electronic-scanning antenna technology and advanced AI (artificial intelligence) assisted software to detect, track and classify small and slow-moving threats in complex environments. Blighter radars are also used as part of short-range air defence (SHORAD) systems to detect drones and FPVs (first person view). 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 the UK's major airports for perimeter protection.

Blighter's commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) product portfolio includes ITAR-free 2D, 3D and 4D radars and a range of software applications to simplify the integration, configuration, control and viewing of multiple networked radars. Pattern of life analysis is used to enhance situational analysis and the speed and efficiency of threat detection. Blighter radars feature Low-Probability-of-Intercept (LPI) waveforms and are designed for rugged operation at fixed and mobile locations and on the move. Blighter supports the local assembly of certain products to enable indigenous manufacture and works in partnership with international systems integrators to create layered multi-sensor surveillance systems for asset and area protection. Blighter is located in Great Chesterford on the outskirts of Cambridge, UK.