India's BEL signs sensor deal with Myanmar Navy

India's state-owned Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) has secured a contract to supply a number of shipborne sensors to Myanmar, IHS Jane's understands.

A contract was signed in mid-January for the delivery of three sets of RAWL-02 Mk III L-band 2D search radars, which are licence-built versions of the Thales LW-08 radar, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) navigation radars, and a hull-mounted sonar system. The latter is likely to be the HUMSA system. These are to be fitted to frigates under construction in Myanmar.

Myanmar has a frigate construction programme under way at its naval dockyard in Yangon. The first of the 106 m-long frigates, UMS Aung Zeya (pennant number F11), is fitted with what appears to be an older variant of the RAWL. A second hull, with a stealthy superstructure, was launched in September 2012 as UMS Kyan-Sit-Thar (F12). The ship is undergoing outfitting, with completion slated for early 2014.

A third frigate is under construction at Sinmailik Naval Dockyard, Rangoon, according to Burmese sources. Its keel-laying ceremony took place on 5 September 2010, and hull framing was largely complete by February 2012. The BEL deal could mean a fourth frigate is on the way, and reports indicate eight frigates are planned.