HENSOLDT - Experts & Thought Leaders

Sensor solutions provider - HENSOLDT is now offering its Spexer radar family as naval solution. An initial contract has already been signed with the navy of a NATO country. The naval version focuses on the detection and defence against drones at sea. In addition, the Spexer radar scans the sea surface for anti-ship missiles and submarine periscopes. Ranges for the automatic detection The Spexer radar family offers high-performance surveillance radars for various ranges for the automatic detection and classification of ground, sea and low-flying air targets. Spexer radar family offers high-performance surveillance radars for various ranges for the automatic detection The Spexer 2000 is part of Rheinmetall Air Defence's new Skyranger 30 anti-aircraft gun tank (FlakPz). It is also used in the German cUAS programmes for the protection of field camps (ASUL), HoWiSM (high-energy laser for drone defence) and German Armed Forces' NNbS air defence system for close and short-range protection. HENSOLDT has decades of experience with radar systems in the naval sector and is actively driving forward the further development of key technologies in this area. Various versions of radars from the TRS-4D product family are already in use on board ships belonging to NATO partners. Functionality of products  “We can use software to expand the functionality of our products so that they can be used in various scenarios,” says Markus Rothmaier, Head of Naval & Ground Radars at HENSOLDT.  He adds, “With our capabilities in motion, we are predestined for maritime applications. Therefore, the use of the Spexer radar at sea is another logical step on our path to equipping maritime units.”

Under a contract with the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency, the sensor solutions provider HENSOLDT will equip submarines of the Norwegian 'Ula' class with new periscopes and optronic mast systems. The contract value is more than EUR 40 million.  With the upgrade order, HENSOLDT is ensuring an extension of the service life of the boats, which are more than 30 years old.  First-class vision systems "HENSOLDT equipped all Ula-class boats in the late 1980s and early 1990s with optics that were state-of-the-art at the time. Three decades later, we are once again ensuring that Norwegian submarines are equipped with first-class vision systems," says Tanya Altmann, Division Manager Optronics & Land Solutions and Managing Director of HENSOLDT Optronics GmbH. "Equipped with the new optics and optronics, the Ula-class submarines will experience a massive increase in capability."

Sensor solutions provider HENSOLDT is equipping the German-Norwegian submarine project U212 CD with a fully digital sensor suite. The optronics division of HENSOLDT has received a corresponding order worth over 50 million euros from kta naval systems, a consortium of Kongsberg, ThyssenKrupp Marine Systeme, and Atlas Elektronik. Optronic mast and panoramic surveillance system The order comprises six optronic systems, consisting of an OMS 150 optronic mast system, an OMS 300, and an i360°OS panoramic surveillance system for each of the six submarines of the Norwegian and German navies. With the twin optronic mast solution, the clients opted for the technological leap from the conventional, traditional direct view of a periscope system to a completely hull-penetrating digital system solution. This combination provides submarines with sensor equipment thus improving the boats' ability to act and survive HENSOLDT Optronics Managing Director Andreas Hülle says, "This combination provides the new submarines with sensor equipment that combines the highest detection capabilities even in poor visibility with a high degree of automation, thus significantly improving the boats' ability to act and survive." Multispectral optronic equipment The combination of OMS 150 and OMS 300 is being commissioned for the first time for the U212 CD class. The OMS 150, in its multispectral version, will be used as a search and surveillance optronic mast. The OMS 300 stealth optronic mast takes over the so-called "attack" function. With the OMS 300, the developers at HENSOLDT have created an optronic mast that is difficult to detect visually and via radar, which significantly increases the safety of the crews. This multispectral optronic equipment provides the crew with the best visibility in all light and weather conditions, as well as a very wide range of operations. With this order from kta, HENSOLDT Optronics is further expanding its research and development in the field of optronic masts at the Oberkochen site.