Thales has unveiled a new air traffic control radar that it will deliver to the UK Ministry of Defence for its Marshall modernisation programme.
The Star NG is being delivered to the MoD by the Aquila consortium that is formed of Thales and UK ATC provider NATS, which was contracted in October 2014 to upgrade the UK’s military air traffic management capability under a £1.5 billion ($2.3 billion) deal.
Marshall will see 100 MoD locations modernised in the UK and abroad, and will synergise what is currently a fragmented ATM set up.
Frederic Perret, product line manager for radar surveillance at Thales, says that 20 systems will be delivered to the MoD in a baseline configuration, but there are potential modifications in the pipeline, as well as options for a few more systems. The S-band radar will be qualified and delivered in 2016.
“It is primarily for military now, but we think civilian customers will be interested in the future,” Perret says.
Thales claims that Star NG is 20% more efficient than comparable radars of this type in the detection of small targets, as well as requiring 20% less in power consumption.
It can operate in “complex environments” to detect both slow and fast targets – including unmanned air vehicles – and in areas with 4G communications. It also is designed to be operable near windfarms, which typically provide clutter on the scan of a radar.
Marshall does not require the latter capability at present, Perret notes, but could add it at a later date with a software modification.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
