Thales Nederland has contracted new applications for existing radar systems. A modified VARIANT radar will be installed on board of a Landing Platform Dock of the Royal Netherlands Navy and the SMART-L volume search radar will be adapted for use on board of an LPX vessel of the South Korean Navy.

1.Royal Netherlands Navy orders VARIANT for LPD2
VARIANT is Thales Naval Nederland's answer to the need for small, compact and cost-effective medium range surveillance systems on various types of ships. This stabilized 2D Air and Surface Surveillance radar system is therefore quite suitable for helicopter-capable ships such as Landing Platform Docks (LPDs), as proven by a recent contract signed by The Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) and Thales Nederland. This contract arranges the delivery of a modified VARIANT radar with a fully integrated Thales IFF MKXII, to be installed on board the LPD-2 "Johan de Witt".
Royal Schelde Shipyard in Flushing, the Netherlands, will build this second ship of the Enforcer class for the RNLN Expeditionary Forces. The "Johan de Witt" is scheduled to enter service in August 2006.
VARIANT simultaneously supplies air and surface target data to a C2 system and offers weapon support to surface gun fire control (3 Track-While-Scan channels with fire control accuracy). The radar features a unique combination of two transceivers. The main radar is a dual-band (G and I) pulse doppler radar providing air and surface coverage. The second radar is an FMCW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave) radar, providing Low Probability of Intercept (LPI) surface coverage. This LPI capability is achieved through its extremely low transmission power and offers excellent range resolution, enabling accurate gun fire control. VARIANT can detect small targets in heavy clutter environment.
This version of VARIANT incorporates additional functionality for helicopter tracking and direction (short range mode and dedicated track initiation/tracking) for flight control of helicopters where VARIANT supports helicopter control up to deck landing.
Other navies in the world with LPDs or similar platforms are also interested in VARIANT. In addition, VARIANT is the radar of choice for smaller vessels such as (fast) patrol boats and fast attack craft. The system is proven and operational with a number of navies.

2.SMART-L contracted for South Korean LPX
Recently, TNNL and the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) signed a contract for the delivery of a SMART-L Volume Search Radar to be installed on an LPX platform.
SMART-L is an advanced 3D multi-beam radar, which provides a long-range coverage of 400 kilometers. State-of-the-art technology in combination with refined signal processing guarantees excellent performance, especially against stealthy targets and ballistic missiles.
This contract is the result of a careful selection procedure by the ROK Navy, and constitutes the introduction of TNNL long-range radar systems in the ROK Navy. As such, it is a substantial addition to the TNNL presence in Korea. It will also be the introduction of SMART-L on an LPX-type of vessel.
At present, SMART-L is already in service with the Royal Netherlands Navy and the German Navy. The long-range radar is a member of a larger family of radar systems, that also includes S1850M. This system will be installed on board of the new HORIZON frigates for the French and Italian navies and the new TYPE 45 frigates for the Royal Navy.