Naval Radar:AMR
5/29/14
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NAVAL
R A D A R S
oday naval surveillance radars are as essential to maritime operations as surface-to-air and anti-ship missiles, sonar and maritime support helicopters, and the demand for these radars is booming. According to the Washington DCbased consultancy Avascent, the market for such products in the Asia-Pacific region alone is expected to reach over $235 million by 2016/2017, compared to the $66 million that the company says the market was worth in 2013. This represents a potential 356 percent increase over a four-year period. These figures are derived from stated and expected procurements of radars by the navies of Australia, Japan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam. Significant procurement activity in the naval radar domain has been witnessed over the past two years, both in the AsiaPacific region and across the wider world, as navies seek to replace ageing naval radars with new equipment, and to procure new radars for forthcoming vessels.
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Australia
Australia is one Asia-Pacific nation which is investing in naval radars. To this end, it is procuring CEA Technologies’ S-band (2.5-2.5/2.7-3.7 gigahertz) and X-band
(8.5-10.68 gigahertz/GHz)) CEAFAR and CEAMOUNT radars. According to a spokesperson for CEA Technologies the first examples of these radars were installed on “HMAS Perth in the third quarter of 2010, with the current final delivery schedule for 2016”. This final delivery will complete the radar upgrade of all eight frigates. Although the CEAFAR and CEAMOUNT radars are produced in S-band and X-band configurations for the Royal Australian Navy, “CEA Technologies is nearing completion of applications for the same technology in the L-band (one to two gigahertz) to provide longer-range, three-dimensional volume surveillance with an integrated Identification Friend or Foe capability,” adds the spokesperson.
European Suppliers
New naval radar products launched over the past twelve months include Airbus Defence and Space (formerly Cassidian) TRSS Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) X-band (eight to twelve gigahertz) radar. Designed for small and mediumsized combatants, the TRSS can enable such vessels to perform surveillance in littoral areas. The TRSS follows Airbus
Defence and Space’s TRS-4D naval surveillance radars which are currently equipping the Deutsche Marine (German Navy) forthcoming ‘F-125 Baden-Württemberg’ class frigates which are expected to enter service between 2016 and 2018. All of these radars will be delivered to the fleet by 2017, according to a statement supplied to AMR by the company. The C-band (5.25-5.925 GHz) TRS-4D has 70 degrees of elevation coverage and the AESA antenna which can either rotate, providing 360 degrees of azimuth scanning, or remain stationary to scan a 50 degree swathe. It has a range of up to 135 nautical miles (250 kilometres), and a minimum coverage of under 328 feet (100 metres) with the ability to detect and track approximately 1,000 targets simultaneously. The radar is also available with both fixed-panel and rotating antennas. Italian radar house Selex offers a number of radars to naval customers. The firm’s Kronos family, notably the RAN-40L radar configuration includes C-band threedimensional naval radars which use AESA radars to provide fire control and surveillance. To this end, these Kronos radars equip the Indian Navy’s INS Vikrant aircraft carrier and several vessels of the
Airbus Defence and Space’s TRSS Active Electronically Scanned Array radar is equipping the ‘F-125 Baden-Württemberg’ class frigates of the German Navy, with deliveries to the fleet expected to be completed by 2017 © Airbus Defence and Space
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