German sensor specialist Hensoldt has been contracted by Ukraine to supply six more of its mobile TRML-4D air surveillance and target acquisition radars to the country, the company announced on 16 May 2023.
As part of an order worth more than EUR 100 M, the radars will be delivered in the second half of the year following the training of Ukrainian radar operators.
Hensoldt already has several TRML-4D radars under contract for Ukraine as part of the IRIS-T SLM air defence system.
“We are pleased to support Ukraine with six additional TRML-4D radars, which will further strengthen Ukraine’s air surveillance and air defence sensor network,” Thomas Müller, CEO of Hensoldt, was quoted as saying in a company press release. “The information from the TRML-4D feeds into Ukraine’s national air situation picture, protecting Ukrainian citizens. We are proud to be able to deliver this much-needed equipment at short notice.”
The TRML-4D uses the latest gallium-nitride-based active electronically scanned-array (AESA) radar technology with multiple digitally formed beams. It is capable of early detection of various types of aerial targets, such as aircraft, helicopters and cruise missiles, and track targets with a radar cross-section as low as 0.01 m2.
The system, which can set up or decamp within 10 minutes, can detect and track about 1,500 targets simultaneously, has an instrumented range of 250 km and can track fighter aircraft at greater than 120 km and supersonic missiles at greater than 60 km.
The system also has a mean time to repair of less than 0.5 hours and features built-in test equipment to ease maintenance and minimise down time.
Peter Felstead
