Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world’s top shipbuilder, developed a high-resolution marine digital radar, which may detect small objects from extremely far distances, officials said Tuesday.

The new radar, developed jointly by HHI and state-run research institutes, may detect objects as small as 70 centimeters from 10 kilometers or further, even under foul weather conditions, according to officials. Its electric amplifier is to last for up to 50,000 hours, which is about 16 times longer from the conventional 3,000 hours.

“The new radar adopts a Solid State Power Amplifier system using a semiconductor device, instead of the vacuum tube type Magnetron system,” said an official from HHI.

The technology is all the more significant as radars, often referred to as the ship’s eye, have mostly been imported from Japan and European countries, the official added.

With its improved resolution, which is twice as high as that of other products, the digital radar will be applied to the company’s next generation comprehensive ship operation system. It may also be useful in military ships, marine engineering facilities and aeronautic devices.

“Starting with the development of this new digital radar, we aim at suggesting new standards in the world shipbuilding industry,” said Hwang See-young, vice president and technology management director of HHI.

“The case also sets a model example of a joint technological project with local governments and state-run institutes.”

(tellme@heraldcorp.com)