Saab to upgrade radar warning systems on German Tornados
Long-standing supplier Saab will upgrade its BOW radar warning systems aboard German Air Force Tornado aircraft. (Photo: German Air Force)
Has Germany changed tack on radar warning receivers for its ageing Tornado fleet?
Saab is under contract to upgrade the BOW radar warning equipment on the Tornado fighter aircraft operated by the German Air Force.
The contract from Panavia Aircraft is worth approximately SEK400 million ($48.4 million) and deliveries will occur from 2021 to 2025.
This appears to contradict the Budget Committee of the German Parliament, which announced in April 2021 that the German Tornado fleet would receive a new radar warning system, requiring €105 million ($128.6 million) of investment, as there are no spare parts available for the existing system in the medium term.
In its order from Panavia, Saab will supply modern digital components to ‘enhance the processing power and extend the lifetime of the Tornado’s radar warning equipment’, the company stated on 25 May.
Saab will carry out the work at its sites in Nuremberg, Germany and Järfälla, Sweden. The company supplied its first radar warning equipment for German Tornados in 1999.
As noted by Shephard Defence Insight, Germany is acquiring Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 3 aircraft to replace its ageing Tornado fleet.
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