A Turkish-made through-the-wall radar system is helping rescue teams save lives by locating people trapped under rubble after last week’s earthquakes in Venezuela, marking the technology’s first international operational mission.
The STM Behind-the-Wall Radar, known as DAR, was developed domestically by Turkish defence firm STM.
The system is being used by Natural Disaster Search and Rescue teams under the Turkish Armed Forces’ Humanitarian Aid Brigade Command, which went to Venezuela following the twin quakes, STM said in a statement.
DAR previously played an active role in search-and-rescue operations after the Feb. 6, 2023 earthquakes centred in Kahramanmaras, Türkiye, which killed tens of thousands in both Türkiye and neighbouring Syria. During those operations, the technology helped locate more than 50 people trapped under debris, enabling them to be rescued alive.
The system is currently in active use in the Turkish Armed Forces, Gendarmerie General Command, and Turkish National Police.
DAR uses ultra-wideband signals to obtain two-dimensional location data on stationary and moving targets in enclosed areas where visual access is not possible.
