Military

Radars for next-generation air defence systems

19 June 2007

Paris Air Show 2007 - Thanks to major investments in new radar technologies since 2003, and the experience acquired with the successful Master range, Thales and ThalesRaytheonSystems have developed innovative air defence radar systems that are adapted to new operational requirements.

Ground Master is a range of ultra-reliable, high-performance, smart radar systems offering ownership costs that are among the lowest on the market. Ground Master radars benefit from a series of technical and technological advances derived from the M3R advanced study programme carried out on behalf of the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA), delivering improvements in operational availability, quality of coverage, mobility, network-centric operation, and environment-friendliness. In a completely new approach to industrial procurement, Thales and ThalesRaytheonSystems will submit Ground Master to the French Ministry of Defence for an official technical and operational assessment.

Detection capability now extends from very low to high altitude, with exceptional performance in respect of small targets and under adverse conditions (ground clutter, rainfall and jamming). A detection range that matches the best performers on the market combines with a high information refresh rate to enable tracking of complex target manoeuvres, particularly at low altitude.

Thanks to its modular design and extensively redundant architecture, Ground Master offers unrivalled reliability, which in turn ensures exceptional operational availability. A cutting-edge remote supervision function paves the way for planned preventive maintenance.

The introduction of a service-oriented architecture allows smart management of networked radar resources, and optimum adaptation of services to network and command centre characteristics.

Ground Master is the first system produced in accordance with the "green radar" concept, satisfying the latest European environmental requirements.

Ground Master offers exceptional mobility, essential for projected-force and site protection applications. With Ground Master, Thales and ThalesRaytheonSystems are able to offer armed forces a controlled-cost solution for detection, reconnaissance and management of future aerial threats.

About Thales
Thales is a leading international electronics and systems group, addressing defence, aerospace and security markets worldwide. Thales's leading-edge technology is supported by 22 000 R&D engineers who offer a capability unmatched in Europe to develop and deploy field-proven mission-critical information systems. To this end, the group's civil and military businesses develop in parallel and share a common base of technologies to serve a single objective: the security of people, property and nations. The group builds its growth on its unique multi-domestic strategy based on trusted partnerships with national customers and market players, while leveraging its global expertise to support local technology and industrial development. Thales employs 68,000 people in 50 countries with forecast 2007 revenues in excess of € 12 billion.

About ThalesRaytheonSystems
ThalesRaytheonSystems is an equally owned Raytheon Company and Thales transatlantic joint venture encompassing air defense/command and control centres and ground-based air surveillance and weapons locating radars. TRS employs 1,400 people worldwide with revenues of $800m U.S.