RIDAR-FM
Every RID drone around you on the ATAK map in seconds: who's flying, where, where the pilot is standing, and whether it's real. Remote ID is the primary focus — RIDAR-FM also detects Bluetooth and WiFi emitters with passive direction finding. RX-only, air-gapped, in a lightweight carbon-fiber body.
RIDAR ATAK PLUGIN · NOW FREE
Turn your EUD into a drone detector.
The RIDAR plugin is now free. Install it on any Android EUD running ATAK and start seeing Remote ID drones — and the pilot — on your map. No hardware required to begin.
Why RIDAR-FM
The first warning used to be the sound of rotors overhead — and by then, the drone had already seen you. RIDAR-FM hears it the moment it keys up: identifies the airframe, pins the ^pilot on the map^, verifies the signal is ^real^, and shares it with every screen on your team. All without transmitting ^a single watt^.
Detection range
Detection to map
Drone & module models classified
Transmitted — ever. RX-only.
The detection chain
From first broadcast
to full picture.
Signal awareness
Not just drones.
Everything transmitting.
RIDAR-FM also surfaces the Bluetooth and WiFi emitters around you — phones, cameras, trackers, access points — and points you toward each one with passive direction finding. It only ever listens, so you never light up.
- BLE 4/5 and WiFi beacon + NaN, captured passively
- Direction finding toward every source on the map
- More operators, sharper fix — the team triangulates together
Rapid deploy
Operational in seconds.
Connect RIDAR-FM to the EUD and detections begin populating the map within seconds. No assembly, no calibration — operational as soon as it is connected over USB-C.
One sensor, three ways
Three ways
to run RIDAR.
The same detection engine — Remote ID, spoof analysis, IFF, and team CoT — wherever you work. Pick the surface that fits the mission.
Run RIDAR on its own device — a full tactical app with its own map, live detections, spoof analysis, and track history. No ATAK and no server required.
Push every detection straight onto the ATAK map as CoT — the pilot pinned, the airspace shared to your whole team over network, mesh, or radio.
Watch the airspace from a live web dashboard — built for the TOC or command post to monitor and review detections with nothing to install.
Choose your RIDAR
Two builds.
One detection core.
Both models run the identical detection software — Remote ID, Bluetooth and WiFi passive direction finding, spoof analysis, IFF, history, and team CoT. The hardware is the difference: carbon fiber built around the MAAK ecosystem, or a rugged aluminum body that adds ADS-B and rides in a mag pouch.
| Rugged aluminum + ADS-B RIDAR-U | Carbon fiber · MAAK RIDAR-FM This page | |
|---|---|---|
| Remote ID drones | RIDAR-U Yes — DJI, Autel, Skydio, Parrot, Flock — 1–5 km | RIDAR-FM Yes — DJI, Autel, Skydio, Parrot, Flock — 1–5 km |
| ADS-B crewed aircraft | RIDAR-U Yes — Decodes crewed traffic within a 100-mile radius | RIDAR-FM No — Not included — Remote ID drones only |
| Bluetooth + WiFi passive DF | RIDAR-U Yes — Passive direction finding on every nearby emitter | RIDAR-FM Yes — Passive direction finding on every nearby emitter |
| Spoof detection + IFF | RIDAR-U Yes — On-device authenticity scoring and friend/foe marking | RIDAR-FM Yes — On-device authenticity scoring and friend/foe marking |
| Team sharing | RIDAR-U Yes — Every detection to every map over network, mesh, or radio | RIDAR-FM Yes — Every detection to every map over network, mesh, or radio |
| Enclosure | RIDAR-U Machined aluminum — rugged · 5.0 × 2.7 × 1.3 in | RIDAR-FM Lightweight carbon fiber field module for the MAAK ecosystem |
| Carry & mounting | RIDAR-U Fits a standard rifle mag pouch | RIDAR-FM Mounts into MAAK cases, chest mounts, and field modules |
| Power | RIDAR-U USB-C from the EUD — no internal battery | RIDAR-FM USB-C from the EUD — no internal battery |
| Best for | RIDAR-U A full airspace picture — drones and crewed aircraft, in any weather | RIDAR-FM Drone-only mission sets built around MAAK |
| Price | RIDAR-U $1,500 | RIDAR-FM From $700 |
Same detection core. Pick the body for your mission.
See the RIDAR-U →FAQ
The questions
operators ask first.
Full documentation in the GoTAK knowledge base. Community support on Discord. Procurement support direct from sales.
What do I need to run RIDAR-FM?+
RIDAR-FM is a complete sensor in a lightweight carbon-fiber housing — it plugs into an Android EUD running ATAK 5.2 or newer over USB-C (Bluetooth is also supported), powered from the EUD with no internal battery. The ATAK plugin is included; once connected, detections appear on your map within seconds. Each unit is hand-built in the USA and we carry stock, so orders ship right away, with all antennas and a waterproof USB-C cable in the box.
Does RIDAR-FM transmit or jam anything?+
No — RIDAR-FM only listens. It never transmits, jams, or interferes with anything, which keeps it quiet, undetectable, and legal to run in places where active counter-drone gear isn't allowed.
What is Remote ID — and what are its limits?+
Remote ID is a short Bluetooth or Wi-Fi broadcast that most commercial drones must transmit continuously in flight — a digital licence plate. It carries the drone's serial or session ID, the operator's registration number, and the aircraft's live position, altitude, course and speed. RIDAR-FM only listens for it: it never interrogates the drone, and the drone has no way to know it has been received.
Where the ground position comes from
In the United States, a drone with standard Remote ID built in broadcasts the live position of the control station — the operator, moving in real time. A bolt-on broadcast module, used to retrofit older aircraft, transmits the take-off point instead. In the EU, class C2 and C3 drones broadcast the remote pilot's position, and C1 broadcasts the pilot's position where available and otherwise the take-off point. You will get a ground location either way — but whether it tracks the operator or simply marks the launch site depends on the aircraft.
Where the rules leave gaps
- United States — a drone under 250 g flown recreationally does not have to be registered, and so does not have to broadcast at all. That carve-out disappears the moment it is flown commercially: under Part 107 every aircraft is registered regardless of weight, so a sub-250 g commercial drone must broadcast.
- European Union — class C0 (under 250 g) carries no direct Remote ID requirement, and neither does C4, which covers model-style aircraft of up to 25 kg. Weight alone is not a reliable proxy for whether something will appear on your map.
- United States — flying inside an FAA-Recognized Identification Area (FRIA) is exempt from Remote ID entirely.
- Anywhere — FPV and hand-built drones carrying no Remote ID module broadcast nothing. No Remote ID receiver, ours or anyone else's, can see them.
What RIDAR classifies today. The Remote ID library covers 389 unique drone and module models across 147 manufacturers — 318 aircraft and 71 broadcast modules, the retrofit units above — drawn from 458 accepted FAA Remote ID records. DJI is the largest single block, but so are Ruko, SJRC, Holy Stone, Aurelia and Bluemark: coverage is not limited to the airframes everyone thinks of.
These are limits of the standard, not of the sensor — and they are why RIDAR-FM also runs passive Bluetooth and WiFi direction finding. A drone that stays silent on Remote ID can still surface as an RF emitter.
What is coming. The FAA's proposed Part 108 BVLOS rule (published August 2025; comments reopened in January 2026 on detect-and-avoid and electronic conspicuity; final rule targeted for 2026 and widely expected to slip) would require Remote ID alongside continuous position tracking and UTM integration for beyond-line-of-sight operations. In the EU, network Remote ID — reported over the internet rather than broadcast locally — is already mandatory inside U-space airspace. Both point the same way: more traffic identifying itself, more of the time.
Which drones does it detect — and which does it not?+
Almost every commercial drone — DJI, Autel, Skydio, Parrot, Flock and the rest — broadcasts a Remote ID signal, and RIDAR-FM catches it. It does not track crewed aircraft (for that, choose the rugged RIDAR-U, which decodes ADS-B within a 100-mile radius), and it can't see FPV or hand-built drones that don't broadcast Remote ID.
How does spoof detection work?+
RIDAR-FM scores every detection for authenticity, weighing multiple characteristics of the signal and its behavior into a single confidence level. Likely spoofed, replayed, or fabricated tracks are flagged with a clear AUTHENTIC or SPOOFED verdict on the detection card, and the scoring runs entirely on-device. We don't publish the specific factors the analyzer weighs — keeping them private is what keeps the scoring robust against spoofers who would try to game it.
Does it work offline?+
Yes — completely. Everything runs on the device itself, so RIDAR-FM works with no internet, no signal, and no cloud. Give it a connection and it adds extra detail when it can — but it never depends on one.
How does my team see the detections?+
Every detection is shared to your team's maps automatically — over your network, a mesh, or a radio. One operator's RIDAR-FM becomes the whole team's picture of the sky, with no setup on each device.
Does it cover the higher frequencies too?+
RIDAR-FM covers the main band where drones, Bluetooth, and WiFi broadcast, and works together with your device to extend into the higher band too — so you get the full picture with no extra gear.
How to setup an EUD to be a sensor+
About two minutes per phone. In RIDAR, switch Live RF (EUD) on. In Android, grant ATAK Location (Precise) and Nearby devices, then turn on Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Location. Finally turn Wi-Fi scan throttling off in Developer options — the step most operators miss, and the one that takes Wi-Fi Remote ID from one sweep every 30 seconds to full rate.
More questions? Ask on Discord or email sales@getgotak.com.
GoTAK Discord →RIDAR-FM · Built to order in the USA
The sky, accounted for. Silently.
Every Remote ID drone — identified, ranged, verified, and on every screen your team is watching. Plug it into the EUD already in your kit and the airspace becomes a live feed. It never transmits a thing.
From $700 · hand-built in the USA · in stock, ships now