SAAB’s Giraffe 1X radar offers a man-portable 75km detection range

Saab’s Giraffe 1X ground-based radar is the ultimate gap filler, providing airspace commanders with the capabilities needed to maintain continuous and accurate air situational awareness.

With a surveillance-on-the-move capability, the awareness stretches even further. Forces will stay safer even when on the move and a situational awareness can be achieved at all times without any deployment time or any person having to be exposed to outside threats during deployment.

For mobile forces out in the battlefield, air situational awareness is critical. The threat can consist of rockets, mortar, unmanned aerial systems, missiles or asymmetric attacks from terrorist groups. Saab’s lightweight, compact Giraffe 1X can be handled by one single operator.

“Our new radar solutions, including Giraffe 1X, use digital technology with flexible software. Software-based solutions are instantly upgradeable and require fewer components, which means the radars can be built smaller and lighter”, says Daniel Forsberg, marketing director India within Saab’s market area Asia Pacific.

Providing reliable protection for the forces and assets is even more important in high-risk situations. This requires a flexible and agile radar which can be located close to the combat area. Saab’s Giraffe 1X is lightweight and designed for easy integration on any type of platform. This means that the complete radar can be transported for example on a pickup truck or a helicopter, or it can be towed on a trailer. Its flexibility and compactness mean Giraffe 1X can be easily relocated even by means of manpower only. For example from a vehicle to the rooftop of a building, making it ideally suited to the rapidly changing needs of mobile forces.

Giraffe 1X can be operated both remotely and locally, and it can either be installed on a building or mast or integrated into a suitable vehicle. Giraffe 1X is a 3D Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, featuring the latest in radar technology, including Gallium Nitride (GaN) circuits.

Giraffe 1X forms part of Saab’s Mobile Short-Range Air Defence (MSHORAD) solution – comprising the Giraffe 1X, C2 and RBS 70 NG Remote Weapon System (RWS) it enables moving units to identify and counter air threats quickly and effectively.

The MSHORAD solution is designed to complement existing defence by filling the gaps in long-range radar coverage created by terrain obstacles. It acts as a protective shield, scanning the battlefield to find and identify a threat, then coordinating the necessary action to remove the target. As an entire package, MSHORAD provides a solution that increases survivability and supports domain sovereignty in conflict zones.

Saab offers a full range of high-performance radar systems for a multitude of applications and mission types within the naval domain and for weapon locating, air surveillance, and ground-based air defence.