Thales delivered its 100th Ground Master (GM) radar, a Ground Master 400, to the Royal Moroccan Air Force in July 2021, under a contract signed in 2019.
According to Thales, it “delivered its 100th radar from the Ground Master family – a Ground Master 400 (GM400) to Morocco end July 2021, under a contract signed in 2019 with the Royal Moroccan Air Force (in addition to a previous order placed in 2013).”
Thales Ground Master family of radars celebrated a milestone in September 2021 as it achieved its 100th deployment worldwide.
Thales GM400 is a network-enabled, digital, S-band full-Doppler radar which uses digital beam-forming, generating stacked beams for maximum time on target.
On-site acceptance tests of a Ground Master 400 radar were carried out by the Royal Air Force (FAR). This radar can detect current and future air threats up to 500 km, with a very high level of detection at low altitude.
Thales Land and Air Systems executive vice-president Christophe Salomon said: “With the Ground Master 400, the Royal Moroccan Air Force has a decisive advantage in terms of territorial protection and air surveillance.
“Thales is a long-standing partner of the Kingdom of Morocco, and this deployment testifies national authorities’ continuing confidence in Thales.
“We are proud to have reached the 100th milestone of the Ground Master family, a game-changing family of radars for superior situational awareness with a solid reputation for performance and reliability for national sovereignty.”
The easy-to-deploy GM tactical radars have become a crucial asset for detecting threats at long range, up to 500km, and low altitudes.
Since its first delivery in 2010, the GM family of radars is constantly adapting to ever-evolving threats, in particular UAVs at low altitudes.
The radar’s digital architecture enables flexibility to innovate and anticipate new emerging challenges such as innovative algorithms mitigating the impact of wind turbines.
The long- and mid-range GM versions fit into compact 20ft containers with built-in lifting systems and offer excellent redeployment times.
Fixed versions are available for deployment as part of permanent air surveillance infrastructure to protect national airspace.
According to Thales, over 24 GM radars have been sold in 2020 alone. The radar type have been exported to Senegal which was integrated with the country’s already existing SkyView command-and-control system mounted at Ouakam Air Base in Dakar.
In May, Egypt also took delivery of Ground Master 400 (GM400) AESA long-range mobile air defense radar.
While in 2019, the Nigerian Army revealed its newly procured Thales surveillance Ground Observer 12 radar during a firepower demonstration at Army Camp Kabala in Jaji, Kaduna state on 27 April.