Swedish radar programme refocuses on high-end ballistic threats

Screen-grab of Thales' SMART-L MM/F long-range radar. (Thales Nederland)

Sweden's ongoing New Sensor Programme (programmet Sensorsystem Ny) has been shaped by the threat of ballistic and cruise missiles, Colonel Fredrik Pålsson, head of the Information and Intelligence Systems Department at Sweden's Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) procurement organisation, has told Janes .

Some of the other threats considered by the FMV for the ongoing sensor programme include stealth technology, unmanned aircraft systems (UASs), and hypersonic weapons, according to Col Pålsson.

“What we know is that [in the next few years] speeds will increase, the radar cross-section (RCS) will continue to decrease, the precision of all weapons will increase, and targets will move over a wide range of altitudes,” Col Pålsson said in a 6 August interview.

One of the key requirements of the New Sensor Programme is the capability to operate in a heavily congested electromagnetic environment and to detect targets with a small RCS at high altitudes.

In July 2023, the FMV ordered Thales SMART-L Multi Mission Fixed (MM/F) land-based, long-range active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars. The SMART-L is a series of L-band (NATO D-band) (1–2 GHz) 3D AESA radars. It is available in land (MM/F), deployable (MM/D), and naval (MM/N) variants. The radar has an instrumented range of up to 2,000 km. An undisclosed number was ordered to be integrated into Sweden's air and missile defence system, according to a July 2023 press release.