A RADAR safety system developed by QinetiQ in Malvern will be installed at one of the biggest airports in the Middle East.

The Tarsier radar was designed to detect debris on runways, which can pose a danger to aircraft. The Concorde crash in France in 2000 is thought to have been caused by a foreign object on the runway hitting the plane.

Now Dubai International Airport has announced it will buy a £2 million Tarsier system.

QinetiQ chief executive Graham Love and Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoun, of the Dubai government, signed the deal on Monday (July 17) at the Farnborough Air Show.

Tarsier was successfully tested at Dubai last November and a system covering the airport's two runways will be installed later this year.

Tarsier, a millimetre-wavelength radar, can detect small objects on a runway from up to two kilometres away and locate them with an accuracy of three metres. It works at night and in all weather and can also be used to track traffic, detect intruders and monitor birds, scanning up to 60 times a minute.

Debris on runways is a major safety, cost and operational issue for airports and airlines, costing an estimated $4 billion every year.

Runway inspections are currently carried out by eye every few hours, from a moving vehicle. But spotting small pieces of debris is extremely difficult, especially at night or in bad weather.

Gavin Richardson, of QinetiQ, said: "I'm delighted that Dubai's forward-looking approach to new technology will now lead to the installation of Tarsier at the airport."