Ground Fire

Multi-Function Radar for Integrated Air- and Ballistic Missile Defence

Surveillance and intelligence
Air defence
Defence

Ground Fire is a Multi-Function Radar (MFR) providing simultaneous air surveillance and fire control support dedicated to the Integrated Air & Missile Defense Systems, for both Air targets and Ballistic Missile targets.

The ultimate tactical radar for Integrated Air and Ballistic Missile Defence

Hemispherical coverage

With up to 400km range , 360° coverage in azimuth and 90° in elevation, the Ground Fire offers complete hemispherical protection. The Use of Doppler processing, which allows to directly measure the target’s radial velocity, enables it to detect small targets in difficult environments.
Autonomous ballistic missile defence over 360°

Due to its large S-band AESA antenna it can, whilst rotating, detect Ballistic Missiles class over 360° to support successful ASTER intercepts.
High mobility

The Ground Fire radar and its associated power generator both have the dimensions of standard containers ensuring easy transport. Furthermore it has fast set-up time (< 15 minutes) and fast re-deployment time (< 10 minutes).
Very reliable and easy to maintain

Due to redundancy in the antenna array, the drive and the auxiliaries Ground Fire can achieve a MTBCF of over 2500 hours. Maintenance is made easy by the new BITE, which links directly to the electronic maintenance manual, complete with illustrations and instructional videos. The LRUs are easily accessible from dedicated hatches.

Multi-Function Radar Ground Fire

Ground Fire is composed of a radar module and an associated power generator module which are both mounted on military all-terrain trucks. The radar module hosts the antenna system which consists of a powerful S-band AESA antenna back-to-back with the IFF antenna, as well as the processing units and the auxiliaries.

Safeguarding personnel and critical assets against aerial threats is an ever-more complex mission, given the escalating intensity and diversity of airborne threats. Ground Fire significantly enhances force protection capabilities by providing comprehensive 360-degree detection coverage across the full spectrum of air threats. Coupled with its ability to support Aster missile engagements, it ensures the rapid and effective neutralisation of hostile targets.

Contemporary ballistic missile threats have increased manoeuverability and the capability to be launched from both aircraft and naval platforms. This challenges fixed ballistic missile defence radars, as they risk being outflanked by such agile targets. Recognising this critical vulnerability, Thales has prioritised the integration of its BMD capability into a high-speed rotating antenna operating at 1 Hz, ensuring a full 360° capability against these advanced threats.

Air defence radars have become prime targets themselves, making tactical flexibility essential for survivability. Ground Fire addresses this by its high mobility that consists of two points. First it is designed to fit within the dimensions of a standard ISO container for ease of transport. Secondly its ability to operate directly from its truck platform allows for rapid deployment and redeployment, with set-up times as short as 15 minutes and pack-up times of just 10 minutes.

Due to its cutting-edge technology Ground Fire (e.g. full digital, multibeam in two dimensions, Doppler waveforms) is able to cover a wide spectrum of targets including UAVs, hovering helicopters, RAM targets, anti-radar missiles, manoeuvering aircraft, low flying cruise missile, ballistic missiles and even hypersonic missiles. Its Digital Twin in combination with AI based engineering tools will ensure improvements to deal with tomorrow’s challenges.

Ground Fire together with Sea Fire forms part of a family of radars that will also include other members. These radars share the same architecture, AESA building blocks, internal interfaces and software modules. Having such a family approach allows to scale production, share resources and ensure long term maintainability.

Integrated Air Defence System SAMP/T — © Thales

Ground Fire as a fully European radar is integrated into the SAMP/T NG system, developed through a cooperation between Italy and France. Natively based on the capability to manage the munitions of the ASTER family, SAMP/T-NG can be integrated with NATINAMDS (NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System) offering a simultaneous capability against both ABT and TBM, including hypersonic missiles. Ground Fire provides growth capability to fulfil the SAMP/T NG roadmap.