Germany Orders New AESA Battlefield Radars
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EADS will equip the German Armed Forces with a new kind of Active Electronically-Scanning Array (AESA) ground surveillance radar for reliably detecting movements both on the ground, and at low altitudes in the air. The Bodenuberwachungsradar (lit. “Ground Overwatch Radar”) is “specially designed for recognizing asymmetric threats,” and will be mounted on KMW’s Dingo 2 vehicles.
The most recent development involves the handover of 2 system demonstrators.
BUR for Battlefield Surveillance
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BUR is intended to close the gap in capabilities of the German Armed Forces in the area of ground surveillance, and will serve from 2012-2037 at least. After If the first 2 system demonstrators achieve satisfactory performance, series production and delivery of 78 more BUR systems is planned as of 2012.
AESA radars have performance, versatility, and reliability advantages over conventional scanning arrays. EADS has some experience with this technology via its TerraSAR space radars, its work upgrading Germany’s F124 Sachsen Class frigates, and its participation in the NATO AGS aerial reconnaissance system and the MEADS program to build the Patriot system’s air-defense successor.
In this case, AESA’s real-time electronic beam scanning allows the BUR to perform parallel tasks like simultaneous ground and air scans; EADS claims it will “replace three conventional radars.”
EADS Defence Electronics (DE) site in Ulm will build the AESA modules under clean-room conditions, while KMW will supply the Dingo-2 platforms.
Contracts and Key Events
May 19/09: EADS Defence Systems’ Defence Electronics group hands over the first of 2 system demonstrators to the German BWB, for evaluation by the Bundeswehr’s Technical Centers. Deliveries of approximately 80 BUR systems are scheduled to start in 2012. EADS release.
July 20/06: The German BWB (Federal Office of Defence Technology and Procurement) has placed an order “in the double digit million range” with EADS for the initial delivery of 2 system demonstrators by the end of 2009. The EADS release adds that other countries have also expressed interest.
