Brazil to update OPV radar systems

The Brazilian Navy wants to improve the radar capabilities of its OPVs. (Victor Barreira)

As part of an effort to update its Amazonas-class offshore patrol vessels (OPVs), the Brazilian Navy is acquiring a new air and surface search radar with identification friend-or-foe capability (IFF), according to the Navy Weapon Systems Directorate (Diretoria de Sistemas de Armas da Marinha: DSAM).

The Brazilian Naval Commission in Washington, DC, (Comissão Naval Brasileira em Washington: CNBW) on behalf of the DSAM has requested a request for information (RFI) and the price availability for up to three radars on 25 March.

The navy seeks to recover the combat capability of the OPVs by updating several of the ship's systems, the Navy Directorate-General for Material (Diretoria-Geral do Material da Marinha: DGMM) recently told Janes .

The modernisation of the OPVs will be carried out by the DSAM, the DGMM added, without detailing a schedule and the scale of the effort.

The DSAM is subordinated to the DGMM.

Brazil is seeking a radar offering a minimum air instrumented range of 100 km, a minimum surface instrumented range of 60 km, and the capability to simultaneously track a minimum of 100 targets, the DSAM said.

The new radar aims to replace the SCANTER 4100 X-band 2D radar.

The Brazilian OPV fleet is composed of the NPaOc Amazonas (P120) and the NPaOc Apa (P121) subordinated to the 1st Naval District and the NPaOc Araguari (P122) of the 3rd Naval District.

For more information on the Brazilian Navy 's modernisation efforts, please seeBrazilian Navy's DGMM details its modernisation organisation .