Israel Aerospace Industries announced POINT@AIR, a mobile radar carried by an aerostat, in a statement dated 11 October 2026. The Israeli manufacturer's announcement presented the system for the AUSA exhibition in Washington, describing an elevated sensor intended to improve detection of low-altitude threats.
Its central proposition is straightforward: raising the radar above terrain and ground-level obstacles can extend its line of sight. IAI says the compact platform can relocate without relying on permanent infrastructure, allowing surveillance coverage to move with the mission.
An elevated sensor for persistent surveillance
IAI identifies POINT@AIR as part of the ELM-2083 radar family. Its active electronically scanned array steers radar beams electronically in elevation and azimuth, while mechanical rotation provides coverage around the platform, the company says in its release.
The manufacturer describes detection and tracking of aerial, maritime and ground targets, with multiple missions supported simultaneously. Those are published capability claims, rather than results from an independently documented operational evaluation.
The POINT@AIR product page gives a design objective of up to 30 days of continuous airborne operation. It identifies possible protection tasks for military bases, infrastructure, coastal areas and offshore facilities.
That endurance figure describes what the system is designed to support. It should not be read as evidence that a deployed unit has maintained uninterrupted coverage for 30 days in operational conditions; the page does not publish such a record.
Detection must connect to the wider defense system
The same product overview says the radar can connect to command-and-control and fire-control systems. That interface matters because detecting an object, identifying it and directing a defensive response are separate parts of the process.
As background, NATO's air and missile defense policy, endorsed on 13 February 2025, describes surveillance as a network of different sensors, supported by data fusion and command arrangements. It also emphasizes resilience and continuity when individual elements are disrupted.
The policy does not assess or endorse POINT@AIR. It explains the wider requirement: an additional radar contributes most when its information can be combined with other observations and passed to the people and systems responsible for responding. Military Ledger's guide to layered air defense follows that connection from detection to interception.
The announcement leaves delivery questions open
IAI's launch statement names no purchasing military, contract value or delivery timetable. The product page also provides no published detection range or independent trial results.
The substantiated development is therefore the announcement of a new radar configuration and its stated design goals. As with other defense announcements, evidence of an order, delivery or operational acceptance would mark a further step, each requiring its own documentation.