On Friday, December 13, 2024, the Swedish company Saab Defence and Security signed a contract worth approximately SEK 340 million (PLN 125.76 million) with the Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) under the Ministry of Defence of the Kingdom of Sweden for the delivery of Sea Giraffe 1X three-dimensional naval radars.
Photo: Saab Defence and Security
Under the agreement, the company will deliver an undisclosed number of Sea Giraffe 1X radar systems to the Swedish Navy (Svenska marinen) between 2024 and 2026 in various configurations, both for training purposes and integration with surface vessels. As emphasized by FMV, the radar can be integrated with smaller or larger units, including autonomous platforms.
“We are happy to continue to provide the Swedish Navy with modern radar systems. Sea Giraffe 1X will contribute in protecting coastal and littoral areas and strengthen the naval units with advanced capabilities to detect, track and classify threats in the air and on the surface,” says Carl-Johan Bergholm, head of Saab’s business area Surveillance.
“The naval radar will help strengthen the Navy’s ability to detect, track, and assess threats from the air and on the surface,” says Fredrik Lindén, Head of Naval Materiel at FMV.
The Sea Giraffe 1X operates in the I/J band (ranging from X to Ku; 8-12.5 GHz) with an instrumental range of up to 100 km. It is equipped with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) antenna utilizing gallium nitride (GaN) technology. It made its public debut in May 2014 and is the smallest radar of its type produced by Saab, as well as one of the smallest radars on the market. It was previously ordered for the modernization of German Type F123 Brandenburg frigates and Finland’s new large Pohjanmaa-class corvettes under the Squadron 2020 project.
The land-based variant Giraffe 1X, with a range of 75 km, debuted in September 2019, integrated with the British Army’s lightweight reconnaissance vehicle Supacat Jackal. In May 2023, Saab received an order for 11 units from the United Kingdom. In June of this year, the compact variant, the Compact Radar Module, was unveiled.
The triangular-section antenna measures 0.5 meters in height and 1.0 meter in width, weighing 100 kg (60 kg for the antenna alone). The system also includes an Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) system and a rotating mechanism. Together with other system components (a computer processing unit, a power supply unit, and an operator laptop), the total weight of the set is less than 300 kg. Most electronic components are housed internally, and the system is air-cooled. Thanks to enhanced ELSS (Enhanced Low, Slow, and Small) capabilities, it can more effectively identify small targets at long ranges. The electronically steered and shaped antenna beam enables rapid scanning of the elevation sector spanning angles from 0° to 70° relative to the radar antenna.
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