At the Puerto Belgrano Naval Base, the Argentine Navy and INVAP held two working sessions to design and build an air and surface surveillance radar for MEKO class ships.
As announced by the Argentine Navy in March 2023, the force, through Interadministrative Direct Contract No. 38-0176-CDI22, entrusted the Rio Negro-based company INVAP with the development, design, and manufacture of a naval air and surface surveillance radar, based on Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) technology, to increase and improve the operational capacity of the MEKO-class surface units. The development of the pre-series radar will require an investment of USD 14,345,000 (fourteen million three hundred forty-five thousand dollars).
Among the justifications for this decision is the need to replace and/or upgrade the old Signaal DA05 and DA08 radars that equip the MEKO 140 corvettes and MEKO 360 destroyers, respectively.
Regarding the working days in Puerto Belgrano, the Argentine Navy, through a publication in the Gaceta Marinera, expressed that: “The first day was dedicated to presentations and the exchange of information to unify design criteria. Subsequently, visits were made on board units of the Fleet of the Sea, where the available facilities for future installation were analyzed.”
While the second day “included a visit to the Electronics Workshop of the Puerto Belgrano Naval Arsenal and to SIAG facilities, allowing INVAP professionals to get a close look at the Navy’s capabilities to provide the necessary support during the development and commissioning of the new radar.”
Looking ahead, among the next milestones of the project are the foundations for advancing in the critical design review, which will allow the construction of the first prototype to begin, in order to start land tests. In this regard, no further details have been provided.
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