Thales radar for FTI frigate enters production
Thales has started production on the first Sea Fire radar for the French Navy’s Frégate de Taille Intermédiaire (FTI) future medium-size frigate programme, the company announced on 9 May.
The solid-state multifunction Sea Fire radar with a four-panel phased array antenna has been designed for missions including ship self-defence and extended air defence, providing protection from conventional, asymmetric and emerging air and surface threats.
The French defence procurement agency (DGA) awarded a contract to Naval Group in April 2017 to develop and build five 4000t frigates. The first of these five vessels will be delivered in 2023 and will enter active service in 2025.
The first radar will be installed for qualification testing at the DGA facilities in Saint-Mandrier in 2019. Thales will then deliver the four panels of the first Sea Fire radar to the Naval Group shipyard in Lorient in 2020.
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