fr STimes 01/09/2004
Arthur's Fast And Deadly
The radar, mounted on a BV-206 vehicle, detect shells 40km
away
THE Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has acquired battlefield radars
called Arthur
to help it detect enemy artillery shells, mortar bombs and
rockets.
The Swedish-made radar's name stands for ARTillery HUnting
Radar.
The new radars - about the size of a ping pong table - were put
into
operation early last year. One radar will go on show for the first
time at this
weekend's Army Open House at the Safti Military Institute in
Jurong.
Arthur is mounted on top of a BV-206 all-terrain tracked vehicle
for greater
mobility. It joins existing weapon locating radars like the United
States-made
Firefinders and thus reinforces the combat capability of the 24th
Battalion
Singapore Artillery (24 SA) in finding targets for the Army's big
guns.
The new radars can also tell SAF gunners if their shells are on
target and
advise them to adjust their firing, if necessary.
Weapons engineers at the Defence Science and Technology Agency
(DSTA) have
made improvements to the radar system, like adding air-conditioning
to the
operator's cabin under the radar.
Apart from creature comforts, DSTA division manager Teo Chee Wah
said
efforts were made 'to integrate the Arthur system into the
SAF's
sensor-to-shooter network' so that gunners can find, fix and finish
targets
rapidly.
Captain Patrick Soh, a radar commander with 24 SA, said yesterday
that
Arthur can go into action with a crew of 11 gunners in five
minutes.
In comparison, it takes 18 gunners some 30 minutes to set up the
unit's
older Firefinder radars. What is more, three separate vehicles
support each
Firefinder radar, which is towed behind a truck.
Also, the Arthur can detect shells or rockets some 40km away - the
distance
from Changi to Tuas.
Arthur will force any enemy mobile artillery system that uses
'shoot-and-scoot' tactics, to 'redeploy constantly so that they
become
ineffective', added Capt Soh.
