ARTHUR Norwegian Counter-Battery Radar

ARTHUR is an acronym for "ARTillery HUnting Radar", and is a counter-battery radar system originally developed jointly for and in close co-operation with the Norwegian and Swedish armed forces by Ericsson Microwave Systems in both Sweden and Norway. The system is partly based on the same technology as Saab’s Giraffe radar, and simultaneously scans 100 targets per minute, while tracking own shells and calculating impact points during registration. It is also used by the British Army, under the name Mobile Artillery Monitoring Battlefield Radar, or Mobile Artillery Monitoring Battlefield Asset (MAMBA). The ARTHUR detects hostile artillery by tracking projectiles in flight. The original ARTHUR Mod A can locate guns at 15 - 20km and 120mm mortars at 30 - 35km with a circular error probable of 0.45% of range. This is accurate enough for effective counter-battery fire by friendly artillery batteries. ARTHUR can operate as a stand-alone, medium-range weapons locating radar or a long-range weapon locating system, consisting of two to four radars working in coordination. This flexibility enables the system to maintain a constant surveillance of an area of interest. The upgraded ARTHUR Mod B meets the British Army's MAMBA requirement for locating guns, mortars, and rockets. It can locate guns at 20 - 25km and 120mm mortars at 35 - 40km with a circular error probable of 0.35% of range. MAMBA was successfully used by the British Army in Iraq and Afghanistan. ARTHUR Mod C has a larger antenna and can detect guns at 31km, mortars at 55km and rockets at 50 - 60km depending on their size, and locate targets at a rate of 100 per minute with CEP 0.2% of range for guns and rockets and 0.1% for mortars. ARTHUR can be operated in two main modes: Weapon locating and Fire direction. Weapon locating is used to determine the location of the guns, mortars or rocket launchers that fired and their target area. Fire direction is used to adjust the fire of own artillery onto target coordinates. It can be carried by a C-130 or slung under a heavy lift helicopter such as a Chinook. Its air mobility allows it for use by light and rapid reaction forces such as airborne and marine units. It is a mobile, passive electronically scanned array C-Band radar for the purpose of enemy field artillery acquisition and was developed for the primary role as the core element of a brigade or division level counter battery sensor system. The vehicle carrying the radar was originally a Bandvagn 206 developed and produced by Hägglunds, but is now more often delivered on trucks with ISO fasteners. The radar is now developed by SAAB Electronic Defense Systems (after EMW was sold to SAAB in June 2006) and Saab Technologies Norway AS.