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On 23 December 2005 the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) and Thales Nederland have signed a contract on Tactical Ballistic Missile Defence (TBMD). The contract consists of a technology upgrade of the Thales Anti Air Warfare System with an early warning function to support the implementation of a TBMD capability on the Royal Netherlands Navy's Air Defence and Command frigates. The function is based on the Thales long-range SMART L radar system.
The system upgrade will be demonstrated by the RNLN with support of Thales in the Pacific Ocean late 2006. The HNLMS Tromp, one of the RNLN's De Zeven Provinciën class frigates, will participate in a U.S. test event that involves the launch of a Tactical Ballistic Missile (TBM) test target from Hawaii. In preparation for this demonstration event, a successful trial was performed at the RNLN's Land-Based Test Site in the Netherlands early 2005 which gives Thales the confidence to look forward to the demonstration of the sensor upgrade now under contract.
The timing of the demonstration is consistent with the new roadmap for the Royal Netherlands Navy recently initiated by the Netherlands Minister of Defence Mr. Henk Kamp, and the NATO roadmap for an Active Layered TBMD (ALTBMD).
A related contract for the set-up and analysis of the demonstration is expected to be signed early 2006. This contract will be funded under the already existing Memorandum of Understanding on TBMD between Germany and The Netherlands.
The Thales SMART-L radar system has been installed on the Netherlands De Zeven Provinciën class frigates and the German F124 class frigates. For this demonstration, SMART-L's already impressive detection range will be considerably extended, supported by increased data processing power achieved by additions made to the Tromp's Combat Management System.
Thales Nederland very much appreciates this opportunity, made possible by the good cooperation with the Netherlands Navy, to demonstrate the company's innovation capabilities. This system upgrade positions the company to take the next step to contribute to the realisation of a defence shield against the TBM threat.
SMART-L's digitally upgraded twin, the S1850M radar, will be installed on the Type 45 Air Defence combatants of the United Kingdom and the French and Italian Horizon class frigates. |