Defense & Security 2025: Blighter expands Asian market profile

UK company Blighter Surveillance Systems has exported its B400 series ground surveillance radar – seen above displayed at the Defense & Security 2025 show in Bangkok – to several Asia-Pacific countries. (Janes/Jon Grevatt)

UK company Blighter Surveillance Systems is pursuing opportunities in Thailand to supply the country's armed forces with its radar systems.

The opportunity follows a recent contract win for the company in Southeast Asia through which Blighter supplied an unnamed regional military with its B400 series radar for integration onto army vehicles deployed for border patrol missions.

Speaking at the Defense & Security 2025 show in Bangkok, James Long, Blighter's CEO, said his company is in discussions with the Royal Thai Army (RTA) and the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) about meeting their respective surveillance requirements. At the Defense & Security 2025 event, the company displayed its B400 radar.

Long said Blighter has already exported its B400 radar to several military operators in Southeast Asia, comprising about 24 radars, but he declined to elaborate. In addition, he said, more than 100 Blighter radar units have been installed along the 250 km-long demilitarised zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea for more than 12 years.

Long said the Asia-Pacific region has become a key market for two main Blighter radar products: the B400, a family of long-range ground surveillance radars that are suited for fixed, mobile, and portable applications; and the C400 series coastal radars that are designed similarly for fixed, mobile, and portable applications.

Long said the company's products are proving popular with Asia-Pacific militaries because they are able to detect a wide area including moving vehicles and vessels, people (including ‘crawlers') and near-ground aerial threats at ranges of up to 32 km.