16 February 2024

Update: GM200 MM/C radar handed over to Dutch army

by Nicholas Fiorenza

The first GM200 MM/C radar was handed over to the RNLA by Thales Nederland on 14 February. (Dutch MoD/Sgt Maj Gregory Fréni)

The first Ground Master 200 Multi Mission/Compact (GM200 MM/C) radar was handed over to the Royal Netherlands Army (RNLA) by Thales in Hengelo, eastern Netherlands, on 14 February.

The handover included a live demonstration of the Scania Gryphus 8×8 truck-mounted system at the Dutch Ministry of Defence's ‘t Harde firing range on 15 February, tracking 81 mm mortar rounds and 155 mm Panzerhaubitze (PzH) shells fired at the range, as well as a pair of Puma unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The system will then return to Thales in Hengelo to receive a camouflage paint job before it is returned to the RNLA at the end of February.

The GM200 MM/C is the land-based version of the Thales NS200 naval radar that supports missions including simultaneous weapon locating and counter-battery fire, air surveillance, and air defence. Equipped with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, it can detect and classify unmanned aerial vehicles and track rockets, artillery shells, and mortar rounds and distinguish them from birds and wind farms.

The radar can be mounted on a tracked in addition to a wheeled vehicle. Thales officials also spoke of the possibility of mounting it on a Boxer wheeled armoured vehicle.

Speakers at the handover said the speed of the AESA combined with mobility allowed the GM200 MM/C to sense, send, and scoot in less than one minute. They noted that the radar is software defined, allowing for it to be kept up to date and adapted to future threats.

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