The Royal Navy has begun outfitting its warships with the ARTISAN (Advanced Radar Target Indication Situational Awareness and Navigation) 3D radar, which is five times more efficient than any radar currently in use with the Navy.
A radar system so sophisticated it can detect a tennis ball-sized object traveling at three times the speed of sound more than 15 miles away, has already been installed on the HMS Iron Duke, as announced by BAE Systems, the radar’s manufacturer.
According to BAE Systems, the ARTISAN can monitor more than 800 targets simultaneously, at a range of 200 meters to 200,000 meters. An ARTISAN unit weighs less than 700 kilograms and was designed to only take 21 days to fit to a warship.
The system, which is intended for the Navy’s Type 23 frigates, has the ability of cutting through interference equivalent to 10,000 conflicting mobile phone signals.
The Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers and amphibious ships, including potentially the new Type 26 frigates expected to enter into service after 2020, will also feature the new system, characterized by supreme accuracy and anti-jamming capability.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff, April 8, 2013; Image:BAE Systems