These days the Armed Forces has put the “Command and Control Post (CCP)” subsystem for the “Military Air Surveillance and Acquisition Radar System” (MARS) out to tender. The background: in the light of international military developments, the Austrian Armed Forces are in the process of massively expanding their gold cap air surveillance system.
The Goldhaube is well known thanks to media reports. It is the never-stopping heart of Austrian airspace surveillance, located in the government bunker, well hidden deep in the Salzburg mountains. Even a nuclear bomb could hardly harm the site.
The situation is completely different with the equally well-known large radar systems. Permanently mounted and free-standing high up on the mountains, the huge antenna systems are difficult to protect.
The second pillar of airspace surveillance is mobile systems. Mobility is part of their protection, as is the fact that they can start operations at suitable locations within minutes and leave these positions just as quickly.
However, while the large, stationary radar systems have already been upgraded to the latest standard with the completion of the “Upgrade Long Range Radar” (LRR) project including the “Deployable Air Defense Radar” (DADR) in 2022, the mobile systems are still waiting for this upgrade.
The six low-altitude detection radars (TER) were procured in 1995 together with the almost identical 16 target designation radars (ZZR) and the Mistral anti-aircraft guided missile. In the course of a major overhaul in the meantime, the number of devices was reduced to 16, which are now referred to as “reconnaissance and target designation radar” (AZR). They are at the end of their service life and no longer correspond to the state of the art in terms of design and technology.
New devices put out to tender
This reduction is now a thing of the past. The large number of air targets in the ongoing hot and cold conflicts – Ukraine (-> current news from the Ukraine war), Israel, Taiwan – requires a much better and, above all, denser air situation picture.
With this in mind, the Austrian Armed Forces conducted a request for information from industry back in 2022. The requests were for surveillance radars in the medium detection range (MBR/MRR – Medium Range Radar) of around 150 kilometers to a maximum of around 250 kilometers, short range radars (SRR) with preferably fixed, but electronically swiveling antennas with ranges between 60 kilometers and around 100 kilometers, as well as the control of the systems from remote, separate containers, deployability and operational references.
The tendering process began in 2024. In early summer a total of 22 deployable and mobile short-range radar systems were put out to tender. Tenders for four command and control post (CCP) information containers with mains-independent power supply, interfaces to radar sensors, interfaces to higher-level systems and to other MARS CCPs and camouflage systems will now be invited by February (-> To the tender).
Goal: No more blind spots
Considering that the medium-range detection range (MBR/MRR) for airspace surveillance has not yet been put out to tender and that the planned eight medium-range missile systems to be deployed as part of the European Sky Shield Initiative (-> Austria has joined the Sky Shield Initiative) for airspace defense will also each require an MBR/MRR radar, it will quickly become clear how closely the airspace over Austria will be monitored in future.
Nevertheless, the choice of systems is no easy task. The Giraffe ABM from Saab is already integrated into the British Sky Sabre medium-range missile system with the CAMM guided missile. The Leonardo Kronos Grand Mobile HP is in service in Italy with the SAMP/T medium-range missile system. The German Hensoldt TRML-4D is part of the IRIS-T medium-range guided missile system from Diehl Defense. The Ground Master 200 radar from Thales (-> A visit to the largest radar factory in Europe) is used in the Netherlands with the NASAMS medium-range missile system from Kongsberg is put into service.
As if that were not enough, some radar systems are also classified as multi-mission systems. They not only provide data for air defence, but can also work together with artillery to locate enemy guns and grenade launcher positions for so-called “counter-battery” counterfire – an example of this is the Saab Giraffe A4. The Swedish company recently acquired BAE Systems to support the US air force in Europe (-> current news about the US armed forces) with several Giraffe 4A radar systems
It is obvious that economies of scale as well as logistical and cost advantages can be quickly achieved through cooperation with partners and the extrapolated in-house requirements for the various sub-areas. However, the integration of new radar-guided missile combinations also entails corresponding integration costs – the unavoidable flip side of the coin.
Total networking is coming in the future
Ultimately, the biggest challenge is probably to integrate all these elements into a comprehensive situational picture. This requires the constant exchange of recorded contact data in the form of data records so that each sub-area can retrieve the information relevant to its respective task from a central data cloud. These elements include the three fixed long-range radar systems, a deployable long-range radar system of type RAT-31DL/M, the future medium-range radar systems for airspace surveillance, the medium-range missile systems and the 22 short-range radar systems that were put out to tender in July. Not to be forgotten are the seven tactical units of the Rheinmetall Skyguard Next Generation 35-millimetre anti-aircraft gun system, which the Austrian Armed Forces ordered in December 2023 (-> The Austrian Armed Forces are modernizing their air defence). These systems are each equipped with multi-sensor units (radar, optics, infrared) that enable precise target detection, identification and tracking at short range. The 36 Pandur Evolution wheeled armored vehicles from General Dynamics European Land Systems-Steyr (GEDLS), which are equipped with the Rheinmetall Skyranger turret (-> The German Armed Forces rely on Skyranger turrets) contribute to the consolidation of the air situation picture. These systems are equipped with the same multi-sensor units and make an important contribution to air surveillance.
The Eurofighter, which is both a supplier and receiver of sensor data, has long been linked to the Gold Canopy. The ability to integrate sensors and exchange data is also a mandatory requirement in the specifications for the planned new Advance Jet Trainer. Although the final contract is still pending, the Ministry of Defense has been has been examining an Italian offer to purchase M-346FAs from manufacturer Leonardo since the end of August. from manufacturer Leonardo.
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