Thales to provide GM400a air-surveillance radar to Malaysia

Thales has secured a contract to provide a GM400α long-range air-surveillance radar (pictured) to the Royal Malaysian Air Force. (Thales)

Thales has secured a contract from the Malaysian Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) to provide a long-range air-surveillance radar to the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF).

A spokesperson for Thales told Janes on 12 December that the company will provide its Ground Master 400 Alpha (GM400α) radar to the RMAF.

The radar will be installed in the coastal town of Bintulu, located in the central state of Sarawak, the spokesperson said.

The contract was awarded on 8 December following a live testing of the GM400α radar, Thales said in a media release on 12 December. The GM400α will enhance situational awareness and air-defence capabilities of the RMAF, Thales added.

“Thales will deliver a complete radar station, including building, access road, energy, air conditioning, telecommunications, radome, and all the associated logistics,” the company said.

According to Thales, the GM400α is an S-band 3D radar that consists of gallium nitride (GaN)-based transmit/receive modules (TRMs). It has five times more processing power than its previous versions and has an extended range of up to 515 km. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to simultaneously detect and track high-, medium-, and low-altitude targets including aircraft, missiles, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) hiding in the clutter near the radar.

The GM400α radar has an update rate of 6 seconds and an elevation coverage of up to 40°. It is also equipped with a Mode 5 identification friend-or-foe (IFF) system to classify detected targets and avoid fratricide.

Thales said the GM400α is deployed with the forces of more than 20 countries.