Kelvin Hughes radar for British Navy vessels

Kelvin Hughes of Britain reports that more than 60 ships of the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary are to be outfitted with its SharpEye radar system.

The supply of the navigation radar systems comes through the company's association with Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems UK, which recently won a $63.7 million Ministry of Defense contract.

"This is excellent news for us and we're looking forward to working with Lockheed Martin to equip the RN and RFA fleets with our world beating SharpEye radar," Rohan Dearlove, Kelvin Hughes' UK Maritime Sales director said. "The provision of SharpEye under this contract supports the MOD's desire for technological convergence, with similar radars being already in service with the Fleet and selected for MOD program such as the Tide-class tankers and the new OPVs [offshore patrol vessels]."

The radars are to be supplied for Type 23 frigates, Hunt- and Sandown-class Mine Counter Measure Vessels, RFA support vessels, fast patrol boats, and Astute-class, Trafalgar-class and Vanguard-class submarines.

Five shore facilities are also to receive the technology. Contract options include navigation radar systems for future Royal Navy ships, such as the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers, Type-26 Global Combat Ships and Successor submarines.

SharpEye comes in I (X) and E/F (S) frequency bands. SmartEye features include a solid-state radar transceiver that transmits a low power, patented pulse sequence that incorporates pulse compression for enhanced range discrimination across all range scales.