Radar upgrade begins on Royal Navy frigates

BAE System's Artisan radar fitted to first ship in Type 23 class

BAE Systems have installed their Artisan 3D radar onboard the HMS Iron Duke, the Royal Navy's Type 23 frigate. 

The radar can cut through interference that is equivalent to 10,000 conflicting mobile phones and detect something the size of a tennis ball travelling at three times the speed of sound from more than 25km away.

The HMS Iron Duke is almost 20 years old and is undergoing a five-yearly refit. She is the first ship in her class to receive the new radar, which replaces the Type 996 surveillance and target indication radar.

The Artisan radar is already in service on the Royal Navy's Albion and Ocean class Assault Ships.

Rory Fisher, managing director of BAE Systems maritime services, said: “The successful installation of Artisan on HMS Iron Duke marks a significant milestone in the wider programme.

“We are playing a key role in helping the fleets of the future evolve to meet the ever-changing demands of the battlespace, creating technology solutions that are quicker, lighter, more resilient and easier to implement than ever before.”

According to BAE Systems, the technology is five-times more efficient than existing radars on the fleet, can detect smaller and quicker targets than the Type 996 and can navigate through environments that are densely populated with other signals.

Artisan can monitor more than 800 objects at the same time and has a range of between 200 meters and 200,000 meters.

The device is made from lightweight carbon glass fibre and weighs around 700kg. It has taken a team of engineers 21 days to fit.