Weibel Scientific is a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

engineering company that has specialised in the design and manufacture of

doppler radar A Doppler radar is a specialized radar that uses the Doppler effect to produce velocity data about objects at a distance. It does this by bouncing a microwave signal off a desired target and analyzing how the object's motion has altered the f ...

systems. It has been in operation since 1936, originally being named ''M. P. Weibel'' and having worked as an electronics business throughout the firm's existence. Since the 1970s, the company has focused on becoming a specialised in the field of radar. Having developed an international presence over its decades of existence, Weibel Scientific’s products have been used by a diverse range of operators and for numerous purposes, including the tracking of space vehicles by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

, as well as the detection of

unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...

s and the guidance component of ground-based

air defense system Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

s for various nations' militaries.

History

Weibel Scientific can trace its origins back to the establishment of Danish electronics company ''M. P. Weibel'' in 1936. It was originally named after its founder, Marius Peter Weibel, and has been a technology-orientated firm even in its early years. 1977 was a year of significant change for Weibel, as the Weibel family decided to divest themselves of involvement in the business; the firm's general manager, Erik Tingleff Larsen, established the firm as ''Weibel Scientific'' during this same year. During the late 1970s and 1980s, Weibel Scientific progressively wound down its previous primary business activity of manufacturing optical detectors, opting to focus its resources on the development of radar systems. In response to international demands for the company's product, management decided to expand the firm beyond Denmark's borders. Accordingly, in 1989, a new German subsidiary, ''Weibel GmbH'', was established; during 1993, the US-based ''Weibel Equipment Inc.'' was founded to explore business opportunities in the

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n market. During 2002, Erik Tingleff Larsen stepped back from Weibel Scientific’s day-to-day management, Peder R. Pedersen having become the firm's CEO and President. Larsen has been the firm's sole shareholder, as well as the chairman of the board, for many years. In terms of its corporate structure, Weibel Scientific is organised as a privately-owned, independently-operated corporation. For decades, the company has marketed its products for purposes such as missile defense systems, and has sold thousands of radar units in the United States alone. The American space organisation

has been a long term customer of Weibel, the firm's radar systems have been used to detect debris coming off the

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...

during its launch phase. During summer 2015, it was announced that Weibel Scientific has entered into a long term partnership with American defence conglomerate

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...

. This stated aim of this partnership is to integrate Weibel’s radar technology with Lockheed Martin’s missile defense systems, and to act as a major supplier of missile defense packages throughout the North American and European markets. During December 2017, through this partnership, Weibel Scientific received its largest contract to date from the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

; this deal has Lockheed Martin acting as the prime contractor for the production and delivery of three Multi-Frequency Tracking Radars. In January 2019, Weibel Scientific established an office in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

to facilitate its strategic move towards the

drone Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

detection and ground-based air defense markets. During September 2019, the firm secured a contract to supply a phased-array tracking radar to the Andøya Space Center, Norway. In November 2019, it was announced that Norwegian defense and technology company

Kongsberg Gruppen Kongsberg Gruppen is an international technology group headquartered in Norway, that supplies high-technology systems to customers in the merchant marine, defence, aerospace, offshore oil and gas industries, and renewable and utilities industri ...

had signed a major contract with Weibel Scientific to provide their radar systems for the

Norwegian Army The Norwegian Army ( no, Hæren) is the land warfare service branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Army is the oldest of the Norwegian service branches, established as a modern military organization under the command of the King of Norway ...

new mobile ground-based air defense system, which will use elements of Norwegian Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (NASAMS) technology; Pedersen stated that it was "one of the most strategically important contracts we have won in our entire history". The line of XENTA-M radars for short-range air defense was announced in November 2020.

Activities

Weibel Scientific’s headquarters is located in Allerød,

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. Just over 170 people have been typically employed at the headquarters. All of Weibel's radars operate in the

X band The X band is the designation for a band of frequencies in the microwave radio region of the electromagnetic spectrum. In some cases, such as in communication engineering, the frequency range of the X band is rather indefinitely set at approxim ...

and function as

continuous wave A continuous wave or continuous waveform (CW) is an electromagnetic wave of constant amplitude and frequency, typically a sine wave, that for mathematical analysis is considered to be of infinite duration. It may refer to e.g. a laser or particle ...

s. The firm designs and produces several classes of radars, including: *

Muzzle velocity Muzzle velocity is the speed of a projectile (bullet, pellet, slug, ball/shots or shell) with respect to the muzzle at the moment it leaves the end of a gun's barrel (i.e. the muzzle). Firearm muzzle velocities range from approximately to i ...

radars or

Velocimeter A speedometer or speed meter is a gauge that measures and displays the instantaneous speed of a vehicle. Now universally fitted to motor vehicles, they started to be available as options in the early 20th century, and as standard equipment ...

s for artillery and guns * Fixed head Doppler radars (SL-xxxx series) * Tracking radars (MSL-xxxx series) * Ranging radars for Optical Platforms * Multi-Frequency Long Range Tracking radars (MFTR-xxxx series) * Short-range air defense (XENTA-M series)

References

External links

Weibel company website
Electronics companies of Denmark Defense companies of Denmark Aerospace companies of Denmark Companies based in Allerød Municipality Technology companies based in Copenhagen Danish companies established in 1997 {{Denmark-company-stub