Saab Sensis makes progress on German HADR upgrade

Saab Sensis has announced that it has successfully completed Site Acceptance Testing (SAT) of the hardware modernisation programme currently being carried out on four Hughes Air Defense Radars (HADR) for the German Air Force (Luftwaffe). The radars are being modernised and upgraded to extend their service life, reduce and simplify maintenance and improve detection performance as a less costly, lower risk alternative to fielding new radars.

The company has now deployed a new Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) receiver/exciter, radar signal processor, radar data processor and display function in one cabinet, marking an important milestone in the upgrade programme’s progress.

The HADR is a ground-based air surveillance defense radar that was first deployed in Germany over thirty years ago. Today, obsolete components make maintenance costly, difficult and time consuming while the technology and computer algorithms lack the capability to accurately detect and track contemporary targets.

The Saab Sensis HADR modernisation programme maintains the existing operational and performance requirements and was conducted while the radars remained in service. The COTS solution provides more reliable position estimates in clutter, increases detection and reduces gaps and blind spots. In addition, the upgrade reduced the number of Line Replacement Units (LRUs) and eliminates the need for tuning and calibration.

Erik Smith, general manager of Defense Products and Programs at Saab Sensis, said: ‘The Saab Sensis COTS radar modernisation approach is a proven, effective means of extending the service life of existing air surveillance radars in a lower risk, lower cost manner than fielding a new radar. The result is an improved radar that is ready to detect today’s airborne threats without the need to retrain radar operators.’