Sea Fire – A Force Multiplier

Today, more than ever, Navies face a real challenge in the deployment of their assets. The resurgence of great power competition is bringing back concerns about the likelihood of high intensity engagements. From asymmetric threats to the deployment of highly manoeuvrable hypersonic missiles and stealth aircraft, today’s adversaries have one priority goal: saturating a ship’s defences with a variety of advanced systems. Yet, many Navies are having to stretch their constrained resources – crew and platforms – to address an ever increasing variety of threats across a wide range of theatres of operations. 

Beyond Mere Defence

In such complex theatres of operations, equipping ships with highly reliable, multimission radar is key to retain tactical advantage.

Thales’ Sea Fire is the radar of choice for Commanders worried about the survivability of their ship and convoy against the multitude of threats they now face. Featuring four fixed panels and fully digital, software-controlled processing, the Sea Fire can simultaneously search for air and sea surface targets. It can scan an aerial zone of up to 300km, with 360° coverage and up to 90° in elevation, while also searching the sea surface for ships and potential sea skimming threats with an unmatched refresh rate. 

A game changer, the Sea Fire has also been designed to provide support in countering all types of threats, from slow to supersonic. Capable of simultaneously tracking, without saturation, up to 800 objects, it can initiate tracks as soon as an incoming threat has been detected, automatically increasing the refresh rate when necessary, and operate the Aster missile with unmatched efficiency. 

Reliability – Any Time, Anywhere 

Faced with increased probabilities of high intensity engagements in a wider variety of mission theatres around the world, Navies also need to be able to rely on their key capabilities and systems at all times. Any downtime increases vulnerability for the entire fleet. 

The Sea Fire has been designed to be maintenance-free during a mission at sea, thanks to graceful degradation capabilities and a high level of redundancy on critical parts. Yet should anything happen, the radar is a one-tool maintenance system that includes self diagnostics, manual and tutorials to support crew in fixing rapidly potential technical issues. Thales has a dedicated Antenna Regeneration service available – ask your contact for the details.

“With the Sea Fire, modern frigates find the power and performance of a destroyer, delivering to Commanders the capability to fulfil their mission safely and successfully,” highlights Thomas Carpentier