The Ground Master 400 (GM400) is a mobile long range radar system manufactured 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 ...

(formerly by Thales-Raytheon Systems). GM400 is a fully digital

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 ...

long-range air defense

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 ...

, offering detection from very high to very low altitudes. It tracks a wide range of targets from highly maneuverable tactical aircraft flying below several hundred feet to the unconventional small radar cross section devices, such as

UAVs An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Drone ...

or cruise missiles. The system can be set up by a four-man crew in 60 minutes and can be remotely operated. The system fits in a 20-feet shipping container and weighs less than ten tons. The system can be rapidly deployed mounted on a 6x6 or 8x8 tactical truck and can be transported by a single

C-130 The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...

aircraft or a helicopter. The GM400 with a field-proven operational availability of more than 98,5% and a MTBCF (Mean Time Between Critical Failures) of 3500 hrs has been selected by many countries as well as France to protect the European Space Agency's

Guiana Space Centre The Guiana Space Centre (; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas region of France in South America. Kourou is located approxim ...

. The system was to be operational by the end of 2012. The GM400 family includes the GM403 and the GM406. The GM406 has a transmitter which is twice as powerful as the GM403, giving it 20% greater range, increasing from 390 km to 450 km. The GM406 is primarily designed to equip fixed sites, with the GM403 designed to be deployable. In 2023, the Indonesian state-run defense company PT Len Industri acquired 13 GM403 radars at an approximate cost of $30,000,000 each, totaling $390,000,000. While there is no publicly available information on the cost of the GM406 model, it is estimated that the price of a GM403 radar is around $30,000,000, excluding any additional modifications that may be requested by buyers. In 2021, Thales introduced a new version, GM400α, with 5 times more processing power, extended range from 470 to 515 km and upcoming advanced artificial intelligence algorithms. These systems are part of the Ground Master family of radars (alongside the medium range GM200 and GM200 MM/A and MM/C as well as the short-range GM60 and its variants) and have been purchased by many countries.

Main characteristics

* Air Surveillance Radar * Crew: 4 *

S-band The S band is a designation by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for a part of the microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum covering frequencies from 2 to 4 gigahertz (GHz). Thus it crosses the convention ...

, 3D AESA Radar *

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technology * Modern algorithm to mitigate windfarm effect * 10 RPM Rotation Rate * High, medium and low-altitude detection, long-range air defense sensor * Detects fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, cruise missiles, UAVs, and tactical ballistic missiles *Coverage: ** Azimuth: 360° ** Elevation: 20° and 40° *Performance: **Detection range: ***Fighter aircraft: > 450 km ***Cruise missile: > 250 km **Max detection rate in altitude: 30.5 km **Instrumented range: 515 km * High mobility, transportability, and reliability * GM400 requires minimum maintenance (30 hours/year) * Technical characteristics: **Digital Beam Forming **Stacked beam (maximum time on target) technology **S-Band (high part 2.9 / 3.3 GHz) **Clear & Doppler modes **

Electronic Counter-CounterMeasures Electronic counter-countermeasures (ECCM) is a part of electronic warfare which includes a variety of practices which attempt to reduce or eliminate the effect of electronic countermeasures (ECM) on electronic sensors aboard vehicles, ships and a ...

(ECCM) capabilities **

Tactical ballistic missile A tactical ballistic missile (TBM), or battlefield range ballistic missile (BRBM), is a ballistic missile designed for short-range battlefield use. Typically, range (aeronautics), range is less than . Tactical ballistic missiles are usually mo ...

(TBM) detection capability.

Operators

*: 2 systems *: 4 systems *: 9 systems *: 4 systems *: 2 Ground Master 403 systems, 2 more Ground Master 400 Alpha systems ordered in June 2023. *: 12 Ground Master 403 systems. Local designation is Keva 2010. *: 3 GM 406 systems and 12 GM 403 systems *: 6 GM 403 and GM 200 systems *: 6 systems *: 13 GM400α systems *: 4 GM403 *: 16 systems. Local designation is «Nur» *: 1 system in service, 3 more on order. *: 3 systems *: 1 GM400α *: 2 systems *: 4 GM400α *: 2 Ground Master 403 systems.

Notes

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References

External links

Ground Master 400 Alpha - Thales Group
Ground radars Military radars of France Thales Group

Main characteristics

Operators

See also

Notes

References

External links