Twelve of the Sirius systems for Canada will be installed on DND's "Halifax" class frigates. The thirteenth Canadian Sirius will be installed on a land-based training centre in Halifax. The four Sirius systems for the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) will be installed on the "De Zeven Provinciën" class air defence and command frigates. Both navies will receive their first Sirius system around March 2008. All systems will be delivered before the end of 2011.
The Sirius system has been developed by DRS Technologies and Thales Nederland. As part of the development a Sirius Pre-Production Model (PPM) was built, to evaluate the system performance. This PPM was tested in a cold water environment at the Land Based Test Site in Den Helder, the Netherlands and in a warm water environment, near the Bahamas, on board the Canadian frigate HMCS Montreal. At the RNLN Land-Based Test Site, the outstanding long-range detection capabilities of the Sirius system were proven. The warm water trials demonstrated that the Sirius' target detection capabilities also excel in littoral environments. The successful trials supported the early decision of the Canadian Navy to order their Sirius systems together with the RNLN.
With this success, Thales confirms its historic position as major supplier of sensors to the Canadian Navy. This increased presence on Canadian platforms will strengthen the Thales position on the forthcoming major Canadian Navy modernization programs, expected to be launched soon, and which will include both retrofits and new platforms.
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