UK Upgrades and expands its fleet of Saab Giraffe Agile Multi-Beam (AMB) Radars
The UK Ministry of Defence has placed orders with Saab for additional Giraffe Agile Multi Beam (AMB) radar systems plus upgrades of the existing systems and associated equipment.
The Giraffe AMB radar provides a full 360 degree update of the air situation out to 120 km every second. It can operate in a range of complex and challenging environments such as cities, coastal regions, rural and bush land areas. The upgrade will take the UK’s existing systems to the same production-build standard as the latest Giraffe AMB, enhancing the primary radar’s performance and track capacity. It also keeps the UK’s radars in line with the Giraffe product roadmap. This, in turn, will enable the addition of a unique capability to detect small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV).
The Australian Army purchased three Giraffe AMB radars in 2010 and deployed them to Afghanistan to detect incoming Rockets, Artillery and Mortars. The radars were a vital force protection asset that saved Australian lives by providing adequate advance warning time for friendly troops to take cover. The Giraffe AMB radars are capable of detecting a wider range of objects than just Rockets, Artillery and Mortars with recent advancements also giving them the ability to detect very small targets such as micro-UAVs.
“Saab Australia is delighted that the UK MoD has purchased additional Giraffe AMB radars and enhanced the capabilities of their existing fleet”, says Dean Rosenfield, Managing Director of Saab Australia.
“The Giraffe AMB radars purchased by the Australian Army did a fantastic job on operations in Afghanistan. We are hopeful that the Australian Army will follow a similar path to the UK MoD to further enhance and grow their force protection capability to meet the ever evolving and challenging threats posed by aircraft, small UAVs and improvised munitions”, says Dean Rosenfield.
The Giraffe AMB radar capability has not only been used to provide protection of troops deployed overseas but it has also been called upon to support the protection of large events such as the 2012 London Olympics, where the ability to have a detailed understanding of movement in and out of the airspace around the event locations was paramount.
Saab Australia recently responded to the Commonwealth’s Request for Information for the future Ground Based Air and Missile capability that will be acquired under Land 19 Phase 7B. The Giraffe AMB radar is a key component of Saab’s offer that will provide a complete and future proofed capability to counter the challenging and evolving air and missile threat.
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David Ledger, Marketing Communications Manager, Saab Australia, +61 (0) 421 054 698
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