PARIS: In order to improve airspace monitoring operations across its vast archipelago, Indonesia has bought 13 long-range military radars from Thales, the French manufacturer and state-owned Indonesian defence company PT Len Industri said on Sunday.
The businesses claimed in a joint statement that the Ground Master 400 Alpha (GM400a) radars will provide the Indonesian military access to “a single air picture integrating the detection of all types of threats, from jets and missiles to hovering helicopters and unmanned air vehicles.”
The contract’s value, which spans a number of years, has not been made public. Several tens of millions of dollars are spent on each radar.
According to Pascale Sourisse, president of Thales International, the GM400a mobile radar has a range of 515 kilometres (320 miles) and “integrates artificial intelligence capabilities to manage the massive amounts of data” it collects.
The acquisition of the 13 most recent-generation radars “shows this country’s concern for monitoring the surrounding airspace, which is directly linked to the situation in the Indo-Pacific” where China is announcing its goals, she added.
According to the deal, Thales will construct the radars and the computer system needed to interpret the data they collect. The stations where the equipment will be deployed, as well as some of the radars’ components, are being built by PT Len.
Strong growth in the radar market has been attributed to rising geopolitical tensions, according to Sourisse, which is why Thales changed the structure of its industrial organisation and expanded its manufacturing capabilities outside of France.
She stated, “We have to set up in new countries to meet the needs in terms of production volume, but also the demands of our customers who want to take benefit of these contracts to develop their country’s economy, create jobs, and benefit from technology transfers to master” new skills.
According to Thales, more than 80 GM400 and GM400a radars have been supplied to 19 different nations.
