Canada to plug surveillance gaps with Aussie over-the-horizon radar

Canada has signed four agreements worth $1.75 billion to acquire the Arctic Over-The-Horizon Radar (A-OTHR) system from Australia, aiming to fill gaps in NORAD's airspace radar coverage. Gordon Frazer, CEO of FrazerLab, said the current North Warning System can be easily defeated by flying at low altitude between radar sites, while OTHR bounces signals off the ionosphere to detect targets up to 3,000 kilometers away. BAE Systems Australia will transfer technology for Canada to build its own OTHR sites. Canada has been researching OTHR application in its north, where conditions differ from Australia. Frazer noted that Canada's system is actually a high-latitude system, and facilities will be built as far south as possible to avoid distortion from the Earth's magnetic field in polar regions.