France, Germany Ground Alerter radar set for MLU

The Ground Alerter 10 mortar detection radar and alerting system in-service with the French and German armed forces is receiving an MLU. (Thales)

France and Germany's Ground Alerter 10 (GA 10) anti-mortar radar will receive a mid-life upgrade (MLU) to bolster its capabilities and address obsolescence.

The Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) will manage the MLU, with a contract totalling EUR15 million (USD16.2 million) expected to be awarded in early 2024, the authority detailed in its 2024 business plan published on 5 March.

Manufactured by Thales, GA 10 is a two-dimensional omnidirectional ultra-high frequency (UHF) passive multistatic counter-rocket, artillery, mortar (C-RAM) radar system. It comprises a tripod-mounted circular-array antenna and an associated radar electronics processing unit, which when combined, can localise the point of impact and launch point of RAM threats.

GA 10 can be used as a standalone system or deployed in a netted configuration. The radar can detect mortars within an 8 km range, extending to 30 km for larger aircraft with a radar cross-section of 5 m². When networked with multiple units, the radar achieves an accuracy of 150 m.

The system was developed as part of the Counter Battery Radar (COBRA) system under a French research programme called Cobra Alert. Eight units are known to be in-service with the French Armed Forces, with the first units received in 2011. Germany ordered an undisclosed number of GA 10s, receiving its first units in 2021.

A GA 10 management organisation will be set up within the COBRA programme division, the OCCAR business plan detailed.