There is a new radar system that we might want to take a look at (perhaps the Department, Customs and Border Protection, and DEA as well). It is palletized and looks like it would fit on our H-60s or C-144s, and certainly on our C-130s. It is claimed to provide both a capability against very small, fleeting surface targets like periscopes, even in high clutter,  which would, of course include semi-submersibles or snorkels, and air targets, a capability I don’t think we have had since the retirement of the Coast Guard E-2s.

It was developed for the Royal Navy to replace their existing Airborne Early Warning (AEW) system, but Boeing is looking at it for the US market, including the MV-22, as well. There is a brief description of the radar here, there is a two page downloadable pdf here, digilander.libero.it/humboldt/pdf/searchwater.pdf, that is probably the best description, or if you would like a slide show that was part of an AEW seminar, start here then continue to press next to the end of the section.

The same seminar had a section on a UAV based system that seemed to have incredible resolution that might also be interesting. It starts here.