Thales has confirmed that its Ground Fire air surveillance and air defence radar has entered continuous series production for integration with the new Franco-Italian SAMP/T NG system, according to the company.
The announcement follows successful factory acceptance tests conducted earlier this year in the presence of France’s Armament General Directorate (DGA).
Eight Ground Fire radars are scheduled for delivery to the French Armed Forces beginning in 2026. Thales stated that the system will provide 400 km surveillance range, 360-degree azimuth coverage, and full 90-degree elevation, making it suitable for detecting targets from drones to ballistic missiles. The radar will replace the older Arabel system in SAMP/T batteries already deployed by European operators.
The company said the Ground Fire radar employs fully digital multiple beamforming Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) technology in the S-band, enabling rapid one-second refresh rates and accurate target classification in complex environments such as mountainous or dense airspaces. The radar’s open architecture is designed to enhance interoperability among European air defence systems, contributing to what Thales describes as “a robust European air defence system.”
Eric Huber, Vice-President for Surface Radars at Thales, said: “We have implemented all the necessary processes to accelerate industrial production, tripling radar production in our factory in Limours from 2022 to 2024 and increasing the robustness of our supply chain and partner ecosystem, to ensure swift on-time delivery to contribute to air surveillance and air defence of European nations.”
Supervised by the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) on behalf of the French Armed Forces Ministry and the DGA, the SAMP/T NG programme is led by Eurosam, with Thales providing several key components including the fire control unit based on the Ground Fire radar. According to Thales, the radar’s performance will maximise the capability of next-generation Aster 30 missiles and reinforce Europe’s air and missile defence network.
Not even a mention of project DIAMOND or the “proper” protocols.
These silly French just go out and buy radars and missiles like mad men 😀
Don’t they know that you need a programme outline first? And an action plan to develop a strategy whilst you birdtable your goals for the delivery of the timetable for the cancellation of the programme?
They are so far behind on the generation of committees, it’s why they don’t consume tea and biscuits the demand just isn’t there. It will come back to bite them you mark my words, when they have no committees to send to the front line, but that’s the French for you.
It will all come crashing down on their heads mark my words.
Personally I don’t know why they don’t use the portdown Sampsons answer S1850m radars as the hub sensor for an air defence system for the southern ports, airports and London. With the masts the radar are about 150meters above sea level and have a range of 250miles.. that easily supports London ect. Pop a few Aster 30 silos around and jobs a good one for half the country.
Because it would only need one out a hundred cheap drones to get through and destroy it.
Most air defence systems have far too few very expensive radars we need many more cheaper radars which can easily be replaced.
Yes but Russia would have a very difficult job getting cheap drones to the correct place and you would defend it against cheap drones… no point covering the nation in networks of anti drone radar and systems when the closest Russian soil is 1500km away.. that is cruise missile and ballistic missile ranges and if Russia wanted to attack core UK infrastructure that is what it would use.. not drones.. don’t get me wrong it may try a few special operations on a first day.. but you beat that with intelligence and these would be very limited in nature… very little point defending Against the remote possibility Russia may smuggle a few small drones with 10kg warheads in to attack selected targets.. when its dropping ballistic missiles and cruise missiles with 1000lb on your core infrastructure… a few smuggled drones first day of the war will cause damage.. it will be the continued use of long range missiles that are the true threat to Uk infrastructure.. even long range drones would need to fly 1500 km and 10 hours across the European air defences.. that’s not happening. You attack the UK from the high north using SSGNs, SSNs and long range strategic bombers.. not flying a 160km per hour target drone across 4 NATO nations air defence systems..
Russian warships & merchant ships pass around the UK regularly, airlines too plus container lorries. So any could at any time conceal & launch a drone strike, just as the UKRs did recently against a Russian target. Truth is we’ve very poor defences if attacked.