The new update will allow IRIS radars to be used at sea, bringing rapid-deployment counter-UAS protection to ports, vessels, harbours, and critical maritime infrastructure.

The Hague, Netherlands: Robin Radar Systems today announces a major expansion of its IRIS On-The-Move (OTM) capability, with its new maritime functionality the radar will be capable of operating effectively across dynamic maritime environments. Upon launch, the update will allow existing IRIS systems to seamlessly transition between land and sea deployments, strengthening counter-UAS protection for shipping lanes, harbours, naval operations, and critical maritime infrastructure.

The announcement comes at a time of heightened instability across global shipping routes, with recent tensions in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz underscoring the growing threat posed by drones to international trade, ports, offshore assets, and civilian vessels. As fixed-wing Shahed drones and low-flying unmanned systems become increasingly prevalent across maritime environments, governments and operators are seeking scalable, rapidly deployable sensing systems capable of delivering reliable early warning at sea.

Originally developed to operate from moving land vehicles travelling at speeds up to 100km/h, IRIS On-The-Move will now be adapted for maritime environments through advanced software enhancements that compensate for sea clutter, vessel movement, and challenging coastal conditions. Designed to be mounted on vessels, IRIS OTM Maritime will  detect, track, and classify drones travelling at speeds of up to 54 knots, while remaining operational in extreme environments through salt and corrosion-resistant engineering, resonance tolerance, and EMC-compliant architecture.

Unlike traditional static radars, IRIS is designed to move with the threat itself, providing persistent situational awareness across highly dynamic environments. The radar’s software architecture will be updated to filter out heavy sea reflections and environmental clutter to isolate small airborne threats operating close to the waterline, an increasingly important capability as drone incursions continue to evolve across maritime theatres.

The maritime update is  being  shaped directly by operational lessons from ongoing live-fire environments, where the need for flexible, mobile counter-UAS systems capable of protecting dynamic environments has accelerated dramatically. Robin Radar’s engineering teams have adapted the system specifically to address the increasing use of fixed-wing drones and low-altitude aerial threats around strategic shipping corridors and maritime infrastructure.

Unlike traditional naval radar systems designed primarily to monitor large vessels and aircraft, IRIS is purpose-built for drone detection and classification, capable of tracking drones ranging from hovering targets through to high-speed aerial threats travelling at up to 100 metres per second.

The maritime upgrade will be made available across existing IRIS deployments globally, enabling operators to rapidly expand operational capability as threats evolve.

Siete Hamminga, CEO of Robin Radar Systems, said: “What we are seeing globally is that the drone threat is no longer confined to the battlefield or to land-based infrastructure. Shipping lanes, ports, harbours and offshore assets are now all exposed to low-cost aerial threats that can disrupt trade, damage infrastructure and threaten civilian safety. The Strait of Hormuz has once again demonstrated how vulnerable critical maritime corridors can become during periods of instability. IRIS On-The-Move Maritime is being designed to answer that challenge with a rapidly deployable, software-defined capability that can move seamlessly between land and sea.”

Vivien Croes, Chief Technical Officer at Robin Radar, said: “Modern security demands speed and flexibility. Operators need systems that can deploy quickly, integrate easily, and adapt as threats evolve. What makes IRIS OTM Maritime important is that we are taking a combat-proven radar and working to extend its capabilities into one of the most operationally complex environments in the world. The future of counter-UAS is not static infrastructure, it is agile, mobile sensing systems capable of protecting people, critical infrastructure and global commerce wherever threats emerge.”