French Thalès to provide GM200 radar for Ukraine – Technology Org
The French company Thales announced it will supply its GM 200 radar for the Ukrainian air defense system.
The news was presented by the general director of the company Partis Kane during his interview with the French weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.
Thales Ground Master 200 on Renault 8×8 truck chassis. Image credit: Matti Blume via Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Partis Kane noted that the radar platform yet needs to be manufactured, so the actual delivery of GM200 is likely to happen by May 2023.
According to him, the war has clearly shown that the industry needs to change. In his opinion, France needs twice as many engineers: just Thales alone is planning to hire more than 12,000 employees in 2023.
Similar to other companies from the military industry, Thales met the increased demand for its products. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, shares of Thales, one of Europe’s largest electronics suppliers for weapons, have risen by almost 60%.
What are the capabilities of the GM200 radar?
This model, the Ground Master 200 (GM200), is a medium-range radar that is based on active electronically scanned array (AESA) technology.
The entire system weighs less than tons, including a power generator unit, mast, and a closed room housing 2 workstations, all mounted on the same carrier platform. It also has all the necessary radio-based voice and data communications.
According to specific requirements, the GM200 can be transported by road vehicles, railways, or tactical aircraft such as helicopters. The system is prepared for work in 15 minutes. It also has a remote operation mode.
GM200 has a maximum detection range of up to 250 km in surveillance mode and 100 km in engagement mode. The maximum altitude detection is up to 80,000 feet.
The control unit operates using artificial intelligence algorithms and provides Electronic Counter Measures (ECCM) capabilities intended to eliminate the effect of the enemy’s electronic countermeasures, which mostly means resistance to electronic jamming.
GM200 is suitable to detect a wide range of military objects, including high-velocity air-breathing missiles, cruise missiles and other types of rockets, sea surface targets, artillery and mortar units, aircraft, and UAVs as small as 2 kg in weight, and with a total frontal surface area of around 0.16 square metres.