(click to view full)
Coastal surveillance and “maritime domain awareness” are growing priorities for nations who wish to secure control of their borders against threats ranging from drug smuggling, to illegal immigration, to terrorist infiltration. Recent contracts in Yemen and Malaysia offer good examples. This task has always been a priority for neutral Sweden as part of its basic defense, and ITT Corporation recently signed a $44.9 million contract with the Swedish Defence Material Administration (FMV) for the Reliability and Modification (REMO 870) upgrade of their PS-870 coastal/gapfiller radar systems and their integrated, turnkey coastal surveillance system, the SABER-2020.
The REMO 870 program will upgrade the radars to the LCR2020 model standard by adding state-of-the-art processing, transmitter, antenna and display technologies, while following the current trend of using commercial off-the-shelf equipment rather than dedicated military-only circuits. The goal is improved reliability and autonomous operation, for detection of land and sea threats.
May 16/11: ITT Corporation announces the successful completion of Production Acceptance Testing (PAT) for the 1st REMO 870 Program coastal surveillance radar system. This successful PAT milestone marks the first of multiple production deliveries, which will occur for the next few years. Major Ulf Finér, program manager at the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters, is quoted as saying that:
“We are very satisfied with the test results for this first system and we are looking forward to the coming deliveries according to the plan…”
Oct 5/10: After more than 3 years of development, ITT announces that its REMO 870 upgrades have passed acceptance testing, allowing full rate production to move forward at its Van Nuys, CA facility. ITT.
June 25/08: ITT announces the $44.9 million contract. It follows earlier contracts, valued at more than $2 million, that provided FMV with the systems engineering design requirements for the upgraded radar system. Additional options under this new contract could bring its total value to more than $58 million. ITT release.
