An image of the SAR jamming system on display at QuanLian's booth at DSA 2024. (Janes/Rakend P)

Chinese manufacturer QuanLian T&E (Hainan) International Trade Co Ltd showcased a jamming system for synthetic aperture radars (SARs) at the Defence Services Asia (DSA) 2024 exhibition held in Kuala Lumpur from 6 to 9 May.

This is the first time the system is displayed outside the home country, the manufacturer informed Janes .

The system counters SARs and reduces the probability of detection. It provides warning of SAR transmissions and jams it. The equipment is designed for protection against X-band frequencies (8–12 GHz).

It consists of an antenna module and a signal processing module and can operate in electronic support (ES) and electronic attack (EA) modes. The ES receiver of the system continuously monitors SAR signal emissions in the X-band and provides the SAR reconnaissance warning.

The ES receiver has -60 dBm sensitivity to detect SAR emissions with 360º azimuth coverages.

The EA system jams the SAR systems using a coherent suppression method. The jammer also operates in X-band frequencies with a bandwidth of 1 GHz.

Representatives of QuanLian told

This is the fourth order for the TRML-4D radar from the AFU in less than two years. The C-band ground-based air-defence radar (pictured) has been designed for near- to long-range ground-to-air detection and for weapon assignment. (Hensoldt)

Ukraine is receiving another batch of TRML-4D ground-based air-defence radars from Hensoldt to strengthen the country's air defence.

In total, six additional radars will be delivered later in 2024 to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) as part of a deal worth a EUR100 million (USD107.1 million), the company announced on 3 May.

This order follows several deliveries of Hensoldt's TRML-4D radar to the AFU. In 2022 the company delivered four TRML-4D radars for Ukraine's Diehl Defence IRIS-T surface-launched medium-range (SLM) air-defence systems, and a further four for the air-defence system in June 2023. Over the course of 2023 Ukraine also received eight standalone TRML-4D radars, independent of the IRIS-T SLM system.

The six new radars destined for the AFU this year are not intended for the IRIS-T SLM, a Hensoldt spokesperson informed Janes . They added that the order comprises a set of spare parts, training, and services.

A 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery Lance Bombardier calls in artillery fire using Bowman during Exercise ‘Cougar Crawl' in Poland in 2020. (Crown Copyright)

The UK Ministry of Defence's (MoD's) Morpheus tactical communications programme is suffering major delays after the contract with General Dynamics UK (GDUK) was cancelled in December 2023.

The contract, known as Evolve to Open Transition Partner (EvO TP), sought to transition the army's existing tactical communications system, Bowman, into an open modular system called Morpheus. The company was awarded the GBP330 million (USD441 million) contract in April 2017.

However, according to the MoD, GDUK failed to fulfil its contractual obligations, including delivering a large-scale laboratory-tested baseline capability by December 2020. With the original timescale “not met” and progress having “fallen short of what we expected”, the contract was subsequently “concluded” with the company, Minister for Defence Procurement of UK James Cartlidge said in a written statement to UK Parliament in December 2023.

Contrary to this, GDUK said that it had met these milestones but the MoD was shifting the requirements.