MEADS radar

The medium extended air defence system’s (MEADS) multifunction fire-control radar (MFCR) has demonstrated its capabilities during performance testing at Pratica di Mare Air Base, Italy, and at MBDA Germany’s air defence centre in Freinhausen.

During the six-week testing, the 360° MFCR demonstrated its ability to track and cancel jamming signals, search, cue and track in ground clutter, and successfully classify target data using kinematic information.

Several of the advanced capabilities are said to be critical for ground-mobile radar systems.

MEADS International Board of Directors chairman and MBDA Germany Programmes and Supply Chain director Siegfried Bucheler said: "The latest test again gives evidence of the maturity of the MEADS development results.

"They form an excellent basis for Germany’s future air defence system.

"MEADS technologies are designed to fulfil requirements for an advanced tactical air and missile defence system that anticipates future threats."

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MEADS International technical director Marco Riccetti said: "The MFCR has an extraordinary capability to detect and track ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles.

"MEADS technologies are designed to fulfil requirements for an advanced tactical air and missile defence system."

"Its 360° capability provides added protection against next-generation threats for military sites and civilian populations."

Equipped with element-level transmit / receive modules, the MFCR is a solid-state, active electronically steered array radar, designed to provide commanders with accurate tracking and wideband discrimination and classification capabilities against short and medium-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and other air-breathing threats.

The radar serves as a node on the MEADS network through its plug-and-fight capability, and also features an advanced mode five identify friend-or-foe subsystem for improved threat identification.

MEADS is a 360° ground-mobile air and missile defence system, developed to defend soldiers and critical assets against threats such as tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles.

The system is managed by MEADS International, which is a joint project between German LFK, MBDA Italia and Lockheed Martin.


Image: The MEADS multifunction fire-control radar tracked multiple targets in a dual-intercept test at White Sands Missile Range, US, in 2013. Photo: courtesy of Lockheed Martin Corporation.

Defence Technology