HENSOLDT South Africa brings cutting-edge bird radar to King Shaka International

HENSOLDT South Africa has successfully deployed an advanced 3D bird-radar system at King Shaka International Airport (KSIA) in Durban, making KSIA one of only two airports on the African continent to operate this generation of purpose-built bird detection technology and the first airport in South Africa to deploy the Robin Radar MAX system. The project, led by HENSOLDT as prime contractor, represents a step forward in aviation safety management and environmental stewardship in the region.

Bird strikes remain a recognised safety risk in aviation worldwide. Collisions between aircraft and birds can cause damage to engines and airframes, disrupt flight schedules and, in more serious cases, compromise the safety of flight operations. At KSIA, the challenge is compounded by the airport's location within a biodiversity-rich landscape and its proximity to the migratory routes of barn swallows, which gather in large roosts near Durban each year. Managing this risk requires accurate, continuous and real-time situational awareness.

Leading the integration

As prime contractor, HENSOLDT managed the end-to-end integration of the radar system into the airport's operational environment, overseeing logistics and ensuring compliance with local requirements.

“HENSOLDT has extensive experience integrating radar technologies at airports across Africa,” says Christiaan Pelser, Head of Air Traffic Management and Services at HENSOLDT South Africa. “This project builds on that expertise, combining operational safety with environmental responsibility in a way that reflects the evolving priorities of modern infrastructure.”

A partnership across sectors

The project is structured around a formal agreement involving HENSOLDT South Africa, Robin Radar Systems, Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) and the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). ACSA, which owns and operates South Africa’s nine principal airports including KSIA, is responsible for operational deployment and ongoing environmental management at the airport. KSIA is also the first airport in the ACSA network to implement this next-generation web-based bird radar platform.

The University of KwaZulu-Natal contributes a dedicated research dimension to the initiative. The team under the supervision of Professor Colleen Downs, the National Research Foundation (NRF) South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) Chair in Ecosystem and Biodiversity at UKZN engaged in gathering field data, correlating on-site bird identification with radar detections and populating the system’s species database. This integration of scientific research with operational monitoring is expected to refine the radar’s performance in the local environment and generate long-term insights into bird, especially barn swallows, movement patterns and nearby roost dynamics.

The technology

The system deployed is Robin Radar Systems’ MAX, a full 3D frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) phased-array radar supplied by Robin Radar Systems as original equipment manufacturer. The system has an instrumented range of 15 km. Rotating at 60 revolutions per minute, it delivers real-time updates every second and can simultaneously track more than 3,000 individual birds. The system classifies detections by size and flock composition and records position data in three dimensions, including latitude, longitude and altitude.

A Bird Viewer web-based display provides KSIA with real-time access to bird activity data, as well as the ability to replay recorded tracks for post-event analysis and investigation.

Safety and sustainability as shared priorities

The deployment at King Shaka International Airport reflects a broader principle that guides HENSOLDT’s approach to infrastructure projects: operational safety and environmental stewardship are not competing objectives. Applied together through the right technologies and partnerships, they reinforce each other.

HENSOLDT’s capabilities extend well beyond traditional defence applications. Across Africa and other regions, the company has applied advanced sensing technologies to wildlife protection and environmental monitoring programmes. The King Shaka International Airport project adds to this body of work, demonstrating how precision radar technology can enhance both the safety of flight operations and the protection of local biodiversity.

This project sets a practical model for how airports in environmentally complex settings can manage competing demands. By leading the integration of this system, HENSOLDT has contributed to an outcome where the growth of aviation infrastructure and the protection of natural ecosystems move forward together.