Belgium Buys Nine Dutch Squire Radar Systems to Replace ITERAR Surveillance Radar

The Belgian defense ministry is buying nine Squire high-tech radar systems from the Dutch armed forces.

The Belgian Defense Minister Sander Loones and his Dutch counterpart, Ank Bijleveld, signed an agreement on Wednesday.

The Squire radars will replace the ITERAR Horse Battalion Battlefield Surveillance Radar in Heverlee. This system, already in use since 1987, needed to be revamped, the Belgian MoD said in statement.

In order to make the transfer, Netherlands will modernize the radar system to block 2. Squire Block 2 can detect and recognize drones as far as 6 km away, pedestrians about 12 km and tracked vehicles about 48 km away.

The ISTAR Battalion Battlefield Surveillance Squadron will launch the new Squire system in the first half of 2019.