Thales and PT Len to supply Ground Master 403 air surveillance radars and SkyView C2 to Indonesia.

According to Oishee Majumdar in Janes, Thales will be partnering with Bandung-based, state-owned defense electronics firm PT Len Industri to supply 13 Ground Master 403 (GM403) air surveillance radars and SkyView command-and-control (C2) system to the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI). The contract will be implemented from 2023 to 2028, a spokesperson for PT Len told Janes on 31 May.
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Ground Master 403 (KEVA2010) radar (Picture source: CEMANO-DB)

In a joint media release on 31 May, Thales and PT Len said the new radar system will be installed across the Indonesian archipelago enabling TNI “to detect all types of threats, from jets and missiles to hovering helicopters and UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles]”. Under the agreement, Thales will focus on building the radars and C2 while PT Len will build the radar stations, provide installation and integration of the systems and manage civil works for the program with support from Thales, the media release said. “Certain components on the radars will be locally manufactured by PT Len, and the project will involve the transfer of radar technology” as well as strengthening of local defense industry capabilities, the release stated.

Ground Master 400 is part of ThalesRaytheonSystems’ (TRS) fully digital 3-D air defense Ground Master radar family using digital beamforming. The GM 400 series is a 3D long-range radar, offering detection from very high to very low altitudes. It tracks a wide range of targets from highly maneuverable low-flying tactical aircraft to unconventional smaller targets such as UAVs, ensuring an excellent wide-area air picture. GM 400 is an AESA radar that can be set up by a four man crew in 30 minutes. The system fits in a 20 foot shipping container and weighs less than ten tons. When deployed on site, the radar can be connected to operate as part of a networked air defense organization and can be controlled from a remote location.

The radar is credited with a range accuracy of 50 meters, an azimuth accuracy of 0.3 degrees and an altitude accuracy of 2,000 ft. at 100 naut.mi. distance. Resolution in range is given as 200 meters and as 3 degrees in azimuth. The radar features electronic stabilization between -6 and +5 degrees. The radars can be operated either from the radar site or from a remote center. They are integrated into the German Air Surveillance network.

The radars are in production at the factory site of Thales in France, in cooperation with Euro-Shelter, GTIE Air & Defence, LATecis - Latécoère group, Schleifring and Sermati. The GM 400 family includes the GM 403 and the GM 406. The GM 406 has a transmitter that is twice as powerful as the GM 403, giving it a 20 percent greater range. The GM 406 is primarily designed to equip fixed sites, with the GM 403 designed to be deployable.

Mounted on a fixed tower, the first of six Ground Master 406 has entered into service. It is installed in Auenhausen (Westphalen), the GM 406 has completed extensive compliance procedures and an operational test campaign. On site validation of the second radar is in progress at the Lauda-Königshofen (Baden-Württemberg) radar site. The third radar was delivered at the site Visselhoevede. Other sets were installed in Brekendorf, Erndtebrück and Freising.