Leonardo Bags Bangladesh’s Air Surveillance Radar Contract

Leonardo has netted Bangladesh’s air surveillance radar contract with the company agreeing to supply Kronos LAND radars to the Bangladesh Air Force (BAF), on Tuesday.

The agreement was announced by the Italian firm at the ongoing Bahrain International Defense Exhibition and Conference (BIDEC) exhibition in Manama, Bahrain.

Aside of Kronos LAND radars, Leonardo will also supply communications equipment, twelve months of technical support services, spare parts and a comprehensive training programme for BAF personnel with modules in Italy and Bangladesh.

The multi-functional, multi-mission 3D air surveillance radar ordered by BAF is based on latest-generation Full Active Electronically-Scanned-Array (AESA, also known as E-scan) technology. The Kronos LAND C-band AESA radar reportedly has air surveillance range of 250 km. The radar is a gap filler, enabling the BAF to plug blind spots of its high-level radars. 

As an AESA radar, the KRONOS Land leverages multiple transmit/receive modules (TRM) to emit radio waves. Each TRM can emit its own unique frequency, which makes jamming the whole radar system much more difficult, thereby increasing the radar’s electronic counter-countermeasures (ECCM).

Kronos LAND can be easily integrated into a defence surveillance network, contributing to the general Recognised Air Picture (RAP). It can also control SHORAD and VSHORAD systems. KRONOS LAND represents one of the choices for SAM systems. In addition, KRONOS LAND also includes Counter Rocket, Artillery & Mortar (C-RAM) capabilities, according to the company.

The deal follows the earlier provision of the RAT31 surveillance system to the BAF for early warning and air defense.