07 November 2023

UK looks to Netherlands tie-up for Serpens Deep Find radar

by Richard Scott

The UK is procuring the GM200 multimode radar under a government-to-government deal with the Netherlands. (Thales Nederland)

The UK has elected to pursue a government-to-government deal with the Netherlands for the procurement of a new Deep Find radar as part of a wider recapitalisation of the British Army's weapons locating capability under Project Serpens, Janes has learnt.

The move, which will see the UK join other NATO members in buying the Thales Nederland Ground Master 200 (GM200) multimission radar, is intended to accelerate delivery of the Deep Find capability, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD). However, the intention remains to compete with other elements of Serpens.

Seen as a critical equipment procurement project within the British Army's Land intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) programme, Project Serpens is intended to modernise the British Army's ability to detect, recognise, identify, and locate incoming rockets, artillery, and mortars (RAMs), as well as a range of other threats, including unmanned aircraft systems. This intention is to recapitalise the current weapons locating capability by introducing a digitally networked suite of interoperable radar and sensor systems to replace legacy standalone sensors.

In September 2023 Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) announced that approval had been given to initiate the assessment phase for Project Serpens. According to DE&S, the full Serpens capability will comprise Deep Find and Close Find radar systems, as well as an integrated acoustic and electro-optic passive sensor system. In addition, Serpens is intended to deliver a fully interoperable and integrated digitised command-and-control (C2) system for all sensors.

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