Sweden Competes with Israel in the Radar Market

Sweden Competes with Israel in the Radar Market

An airman monitors the new display console for the AN/FPS-117 air defense radar system at Templehof Central Airport. The system is operated by members of the 1946th Information Systems Squadron.

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The Swedish company Saab won an $18.6 Million contract from Northrop Grumman Corporation to deliver components and subsystems of the US Marine Corps AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) system.

According to defenseworld.net, the system will provide the US Marine Corps with a single radar type that performs air surveillance, defense, and ground weapon locating and air traffic control missions. G/ATOR is the first ground-based multi-mission radar to be developed by the US Department of Defense, the company said in a statement recently.

The contract awarded by Northrop Grumman Corporation, prime contractor to the US Marine Corps for the G/ATOR program, covers the delivery of major subsystems and assemblies, as well as software, for the next nine Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) units.

The assemblies developed and built by the Swedish company will be integrated by Northrop Grumman into the systems which will be delivered to the US Marine Corps as early as 2018.

Some of the most advanced radar systems are manufactured in Israel. Elta, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), manufactures in its factory in Ashdod radar systems for combat aircraft, for early warning aircraft, for navies’ vessels and for search and tracking, e.g. the Green Pine, which is part of the Arrow anti ballistic missiles defense system.

The Israeli systems are considered the best of their kind in the world, and in Israel there is concern regarding competition by foreign countries. This competition has become harsher as the Israeli defense industries do not receive a substantial support from the government regarding the marketing of their products.