Thales to develop Sea Fire 500, a new multifunction fixed-array radar

Key points

• Sea Fire 500 is a multifunction radar relying on a solid-state four-panel phased-array antenna and smart management of radar resources.
• First version of a new family of multifunction and high performance radars designed to meet evolving naval mission profiles and threats.

At Euronaval 2014, Thales is announcing the development of its new multifunction naval radar, Sea Fire 500. With a fully solid-state four-panel phased-array antenna, Sea Fire 500 is designed for large surface combatants.

This new radar concept is the culmination of three years of advanced research into new radar technologies and architectures, conducted with the support from the French defence procurement agency (DGA). Sea Fire 500 is tailored to evolving naval requirements and the new threats faced by national navies. The new radar will be effective in roles ranging from ship self-defence to extended air defence, providing protection from asymmetric threats such as UAVs as well as emerging threats such as anti-ship ballistic missiles, even in heavily jammed environments and the complex conditions of the littoral.

With the combination of its four fully solid-state active fixed arrays, each offering higher power, beam steering agility and 90° coverage, the radar will provide significantly higher detection and tracking performance with continuous 360° coverage in azimuth and 90° coverage in elevation.

Sea Fire 500 is a modular radar system that will be available in several versions and with various antenna sizes to match platform architectures and mission types. Each antenna array is independent: the four fixed panels can be located at different points on the vessel.

Sea Fire 500 will draw on experience gained with the Herakles radar. It is a multifunction radar capable of performing missile fire control and guidance as well as target detection, identification and tracking.

With the Sea Fire 500, Thales is developing the next generation of naval solutions, taking operational performance to the next level to significantly increase the capabilities of front-line warships.