What is Twinvis? HENSOLDT’s Passive Radar That Tracks Without Emitting
The most dangerous surveillance system is the one that cannot be found. HENSOLDT’s Twinvis takes this principle to its logical extreme: a radar that tracks aircraft, helicopters, and drones without ever emitting a radar signal. Instead of transmitting, Twinvis receives — exploiting the civilian broadcast infrastructure already blanketing most of the developed world. FM radio stations, DAB digital radio networks, and DVB-T television transmitters become the illuminators of this bistatic passive radar, delivering persistent, unjammable, undetectable air surveillance.
Product Identity
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | HENSOLDT AG |
| Type | Passive radar / Multistatic Passive Radar |
| Origin | Germany |
| Technology | Bistatic/multistatic radar exploiting civilian VHF/UHF broadcasts |
| Active emissions | Zero |
How It Works
A conventional radar transmits an energy pulse and listens for the echo. Twinvis does the opposite. It transmits nothing; instead it listens to the continuous signal flow from nearby FM radio transmitters, DAB digital radio networks, and DVB-T digital television broadcasters. When an aircraft or drone passes through those signals, it creates a small but measurable reflection. Twinvis’s receivers capture these reflections and extract target position, altitude, velocity, and trajectory through sophisticated signal processing algorithms.
The system fuses data from up to 16 FM transmitters, 5 DAB networks, and 5 DVB-T networks simultaneously — a multi-source data fusion approach that compensates for individual transmitter coverage gaps and ensures continuous 360-degree azimuth coverage.
Technical Specifications
| Feature | Value |
|---|---|
| Signal sources exploited | FM radio (VHF), DAB (Band III), DVB-T (UHF) |
| Maximum fusion sources | 16 FM + 5 DAB + 5 DVB-T |
| Azimuth coverage | 360° |
| Tracking dimensions | 3D (azimuth, elevation, range) |
| Track update rate | <1 second |
| Antenna-to-track latency | <1.5 seconds |
| Active emissions | None (fully passive) |
| Target types | Fixed-wing, rotary-wing, UAVs |
Operational Advantages
EW resilience: Suppressing Twinvis would require silencing FM radio stations and television broadcasters serving civilians — practically impossible. Unlike active radars, Twinvis cannot be jammed because there is no radar signal to jam.
Low-probability of intercept: Since Twinvis emits nothing, adversary radar warning receivers cannot detect it. A passive receiver is inherently invisible to signal-seeking EW systems.
Low-altitude capability: Twinvis is optimized for detecting low-flying aircraft, helicopters, and rotary-wing systems that challenge conventional radar architectures.
