Saab has signed a contract with South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration regarding support and supply of spare parts for its Arthur weapon locating systems. The order value is approximately SEK 795 million and the contract period is 2023-2028. Saab will carry out the work with its local support team in South Korea, in cooperation with a team in Gothenburg, Sweden for spare parts supply and back-office support. The main part of the production for this program done at south korean defense company LIG Nex1 under a localisation agreement between Saab and LIG. Reportedly purchased Mod C in 2007, in 2011 Saab received a follow-up order.[9][5] About 20 are positioned near the Korean Demilitarized Zone.
“The Republic of Korea Armed Forces is the largest operator of our Arthur weapon locating system and we are proud to contribute to its capability by ensuring the systems remain in operation with excellent availability,” says Carl-Johan Bergholm, head of Saab’s business area Surveillance.
ARTHUR (an acronym for “artillery hunting radar”) is a cstand alone C-band medium-range weapon-locating 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. It is also used by the British Army, under the names mobile artillery monitoring battlefield radar or mobile artillery monitoring battlefield asset (MAMBA). The radar is now developed by Saab AB Electronic Defense Systems (after EMW was sold to Saab in June 2006) and Saab Technologies Norway AS. The ARTHUR system is widely used by demanding customers around the world. Examples of customers are Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Norway, Spain, Sweden and UK. More than 60 ARTHUR units have been sold and their availability is well proven from thousands of hours’ operation.
ARTHUR utilises a passive phased-array antenna technology for optimised battlefield performance. The technology provides the perfect balance between mobility, range, accuracy, ECCM (Electronic counter-countermeasures), operational availability and operational cost. The ARTHUR detects hostile artillery by tracking projectiles in flight. ARTHUR Mod C has a larger antenna and can detect guns at 31 km, mortars at 55 km and rockets at 50–60 km 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. 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.
