USN and UK Pursuing Next Generation Maritime Multifunction Radar

Alenia Marconi Systems (AMS), QinetiQ and Roke Manor Research Limited have begun work on the Advanced Radar Technology Integrated System Test-bed or ARTIST. This team was awarded a 44-month £8.1 million ($15.5 million) contract to build a demonstrator and to develop techniques suitable for the next generation maritime multifunction radar (MFR).

The ARTIST program will cover preliminary testing of an MFR demonstrator in the United Kingdom. Extensive trials of this technology demonstrator are expected to take place in a follow-on program. The current program is being sponsored by the UK MoD and encompasses collaboration with the United States. In the US the program will be conducted by Lockheed-Martin and is being funded by the US Navy. This cooperative approach will yield two demonstrators for each country, they are known as the UK ARTIST and the US ARTIST.

The UK ARTIST will build on successful MESAR and SAMPSON radar systems. The demonstrator will be developed, built and evaluated by the UK-based team and the outcome could influence decisions on performance improvements to existing and planned radar systems, including for the Type 45 destroyer and other future platforms. In the long term the United Kingdom is pursuing radar technology to detect small-sized targets in dense clutter such as the littoral environment. This capability is expected to become critical for anti-air warfare and anti-surface warfare beyond the 2010 timeframe.

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