COBRA COunter Battery RAdar is a

Counter-battery radar A counter-battery radar or weapon tracking radar is a radar system that detects artillery projectiles fired by one or more guns, howitzers, Mortar (weapon), mortars or rocket launchers and, from their trajectories, locates the position on the g ...

system developed jointly by

Thales Thales of Miletus ( ; ; ) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic Philosophy, philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. Thales was one of the Seven Sages of Greece, Seven Sages, founding figure ...

Airbus Defence and Space Airbus Defence and Space is a division of Airbus SE. Formed in 2014 in the restructuring of European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS), Airbus SE comprises the former Airbus Military, Astrium, and divisions. Contributing 21% of Airbus reven ...

and

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

for the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and

German Armed Forces The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: German Army, ...

. It is a mobile

Active electronically scanned array An active electronically scanned array (AESA) is a type of phased array antenna, which is a computer-controlled antenna array in which the beam of radio waves can be electronically steered to point in different directions without moving the a ...

3D radar 3D radar provides for radar ranging and direction in three dimensions. In addition to range, the more common two-dimensional radar provides only azimuth for direction, whereas the 3D radar also provides elevation. Applications include weather rada ...

based on a wheeled chassis for the purpose of enemy

field artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support army, armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the ear ...

acquisition. There are believed to be about 20,000

Gallium arsenide Gallium arsenide (GaAs) is a III-V direct band gap semiconductor with a Zincblende (crystal structure), zinc blende crystal structure. Gallium arsenide is used in the manufacture of devices such as microwave frequency integrated circuits, monoli ...

integrated circuits in each antenna. This enables the equipment to produce the locations of multiple enemy artillery at extremely long ranges, and the radar is able to cope with saturation type bombardments. In addition there is a high degree of automated software, with high speed circuitry and secure data transmission to escape detection from enemy electronic countermeasures. For the COBRA mid-life upgrade (2024+) an inertial navigation system from iMAR Navigation is used.

Operators

Current operators

; (10) : 10 purchased ; (9) : 12 purchased, one donated to Ukraine in 2022, 2 sold to Turkey. ; (5 donated by the UK) : The radars were donated by the UK in 2016, when the Army decided that the system was redundant with the Saab

ARTHUR Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

. ; (4) : In 2017, the German government approved the export of COBRA radars to Saudi Arabia. ; (2) : Radars purchased from Germany in 2007. ; (1) : In May 2022, it was reported that Ukraine had requested 40 COBRA systems from Germany amid the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. One COBRA system was delivered later in September 2022. ; (3) : 3 ordered in 2009

Former operator

; : 7 purchased, 5 donated to Jordan.

References

{{reflist Ground radars Weapon locating radar Counter-battery radars Warning systems

Operators

Current operators

Former operator

See also

References