Report: Reimagining Mesh-Based Radar Detection Against Hypersonic and Saturation Threats.

In the face of increasingly complex, saturating, and hypersonic strikes carried out by adversarial powers, traditional air defense systems are reaching their physical and economic limits. In a forward-looking report published in July 2025 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), analysts Masao Dahlgren, Patrycja Bazylczyk, and Tom Karako propose a fundamental shift: replacing architectures built around a few powerful radars with a dense mesh of passive, proliferated sensors forming a "distributed sensory skin" capable of detecting, tracking, and identifying threats while surviving in highly contested environments.
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Hensoldt's TRML-4D radar, though an active sensor, is used within the IRIS-T SLM network and could serve as a nodal element in a more discreet and distributed mesh architecture (Picture source: Hensoldt)

This approach, referred to as mesh sensing, breaks away from the traditional detection-identification-engagement triad by distributing each function across specialized nodes within a network. The proposed sensors include acoustic detectors (such as Zvook or Sky Fortress deployed in Ukraine), infrared sensors (MWIR, LWIR), electro-optical cameras (TV/CCD), passive RF listening devices (e.g., Silent Sentinel), miniature Doppler radars mounted on lightweight drones, as well as hyperspectral sensors and transient event detectors. With unit costs now often below $10,000, these systems can be widely deployed in fixed, semi-mobile, or airborne configurations, using micro-UAVs such as the Black Hornet, RQ-28A, or Anavia HT-100. They can be layered operationally,  acoustic systems positioned forward, infrared and optical sensors placed in-depth, and data fusion nodes secured in covered terrain.

The operational value lies in the ability of these networks to detect increasingly stealthy threats, such as subsonic cruise missiles like the Kh-101 or modified Shahed-136 drones, even in environments affected by electronic countermeasures, spectral camouflage, or active jamming. In a scenario modeled by CSIS, a ground-based air defense system in eastern Poland saw its performance improve by 26% against a ballistic missile salvo when supported by a passive EO/IR network of 14 sensors. The benefit was not only quantitative: early warning was improved by 3 to 4 minutes, allowing sufficient time for repositioning a Patriot PAC-3 MSE battery or activating a SkyCeptor interceptor within the IBCS framework.

The network infrastructure proposed by CSIS is based on a high-redundancy mesh architecture coupled with local data processing via edge computing. Sensor data does not require full centralization but can be partially processed at the source using dimensionality reduction, neural network classification (such as YOLOv7 or ResNet), or contextual interpretation (embedded LLMs in micro-instances). This localized processing improves resilience against jamming, reduces latency, and minimizes dependence on SATCOM or LTE relays vulnerable to electronic warfare. In this context, systems like the KORNET Passive Surveillance Sensor (KORNET-PSS) from Thales, the Silent Watch by Leonardo, or SAAB’s SHORAD Enhanced EO Mesh could be integrated as specialized nodes within a federated architecture.

This distributed network is not intended to replace active radars like the AN/MPQ-65A (Patriot) or the GM200 MM/C used by Dutch forces, but rather to complement them. It could also be used to multiply false targets against enemy anti-radiation missiles by deploying active decoys or intermittent emitters. The system may also support dynamic camouflage strategies, with regular shifts between emission sources, similar to the approach implemented in the Israeli Scorpius-T system.

Growing interest in distributed sensor architectures can be observed among armed forces. In 2024, the Bundeswehr approved a test of the ABF-Passiv (Aufgeklärte Bedrohung Früherkennung) program, based on deployable tripod-mounted LWIR sensors. The Italian Army is currently testing EO/IR sensor networks developed by Elettronica, in conjunction with its Kronos Grand Mobile radars. The US Army, for its part, has included in the FY2026 budget a program titled Passive Integrated Ground Sensors (PIGS), aimed at equipping Armored Brigade Combat Teams (ABCTs) with EO/IR acoustic sensor meshes to detect small drone movements at squad level.

Ultimately, mesh sensing could be integrated into a cloud-based command and control system capable of fusing sensor tracks in real time, prioritizing them, and automatically cueing intercept platforms. This direction, referred to as autopoietic sensor fusion, would represent a doctrinal shift comparable to the introduction of C-RAM systems or hit-to-kill interceptors in the 1990s. It reflects a step toward the emergence of a territorial immune system based not on kinetic mass, but on informational omnipresence.