DGA selects Ground Master 400 for airspace surveillance

ThalesRaytheonSystems (TRS) will supply the French Air Force with a Ground Master 406 (GM 406) radar base following the system’s selection by the French defense procurement agency (DGA) and contract award on 7 September. TRS will also provide on-site support at Nice Mont-Agel airbase.

The contract will see TRS supply and install a GM 406 and perform associated civil engineering, through-life support for three years with guaranteed operational availability of 98%, and information system security for the radar base.

According to the company, the GM 406 will provide the cornerstone of France's airspace surveillance capability, and will be integrated with the air defence network of the SCCOA air command and control system to provide airspace monitoring, which is a high-priority mission under the country's Permanent Security Posture (PSP). France has already acquired a radar station based on the GM 406 that will be part of the protection of the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana.

The new GM 406 radar will be coupled with the NATO ACCS C2 centres, the SCCOA system and C3M system (the deployable component of the French SCCOA programme) centres as well as French Navy and Army installations.

The GM 406 is part of the TRS family of fully digital 3D air defence radars, designed to protect key assets and expeditionary forces by delivering high detection performance, high track accuracy suitable for weapon assignment, high operational availability and simplified maintenance as well as high mobility. They are able to detect a vast array of modern threats, including UAVs, missiles, mortars and rockets, from very low to very high altitude.

Philippe Duhamel, CEO, TRS French Operations, said: ‘We are delighted that the DGA has selected the Ground Master as the first new-generation radar to provide airspace protection in metropolitan France. ‘With the Ground Master 406, France will benefit from superior detection performance at low and high altitudes, higher availability and simplified maintenance.’