Germany’s Anschütz has reached a significant milestone with the successful setting-to-work of its Naval Radar NX application of the first of eight Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Anzac-class frigates, the company announced on 27 October 2023.
The 20- to 30-year-old frigates are receiving Naval Radar NX applications as part of their modernisation programme.
“We are pleased to have established a trusting and successful relationship with our Australian partners and the Royal Australian Navy with the successful commissioning,” said Michael DePlonty, Lead System Engineer for the Anzac naval radar programme at Anschütz.
According to Anschütz, the ships’ naval radar systems will combine powerful transceivers from Terma and Naval Radar NX applications from Anschütz on customised, robust consoles. This, the company says, will extend the classic navigation radar in accordance with the rules of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to a further level with situational awareness, enabling customers to operate all radar-related tasks from navigation to mission execution.
According to Anschütz, the Naval Radar NX application provides operators with a clear and precise radar image via an intuitive user interface, which is created using patented clutter suppression and filtering technology. It also offers advanced target tracking and management of navigational and tactical targets. In addition to collision avoidance, Naval Radar NX also offers tactical functions such as alarm zone monitoring, formation managing, helicopter guidance and video merging. The application is flexible and can be adapted to customer-specific use cases.
As well as equipping eight Anzac-class frigates, Anschütz is also supplying the systems to land-based test installations. As a local partner, the Australian company JEDS will provide maintenance training for the Anzac naval radar systems and take over maintenance.
In addition to supplying the radar systems, Anschütz’s scope of services also includes customised development, system integration, documentation and training.
“The training was well received,” said Dave Hardy of BAE Systems Australia: the radar systems contractor for the Anzac-class modernisation programme. “The trainees also said that they found the Anschütz console easier to use and more logical compared to other consoles they had experienced.”
