INVAP expands its supply of radars

INVAP expands its supply of radars
July - 1920 to 2010
Federal-provincial owned company, INVESTIGACIÓN APLICADA (APPLIED RESEARCH) (INVAP) based in San Carlos de Bariloche, Province of Río Negro, completed in late 2011 the delivery of 34 new mono-pulse radar, commissioned by the Ministry of Defence of Argentina to renew and expand the network of the National Aerospace Surveillance and Control (SINVICA) for this South American country. Eight of the twelve radars included in the first stage of the project have already been delivered and are operating in different parts of Argentina. The Ministry of Defence of Argentina also purchase six copies of a primary radar 3-D, also in development by INVAP under a project launched in 2005. The prototype of the 3-D radar, which is named MET-1 was successfully tested as part of safety device of the Summit of South American Nations Union (UNASUR) held in San Carlos de Bariloche in August 2009. The development of radar, which will reach around 220mn, will be completed in 2011. Mass production of the six units will be in charge of the Directorate General of Military Defense Ministry, at a cost that is estimated at USD 15 million per unit.
The Expansion Plan network traffic control and air space also considering the purchase of up to three early warning radar aircraft. Since 2002, the Argentine authorities were repeat samples of interest in the purchase of a SAAB S-100B/340 AEW second hand aircraft, when these were available. At the end of 2009 there were signs of a particular interest, possibly triggered by the realization that sales of these aircraft to Thailand and more recently to the UAE, the possibilities for these used aircraft good price and were running out. But the Swedish automaker Saab and Defense Ministry officials in Sweden reported that there was no available second-hand aircraft, as it has not yet decided to replace the S-100B ARGUS still in service with the Scandinavian country's air force.

The solution offered by the Swedish automaker was the conversion and equipping of two SAAB 340 to AEW version, integrating on-board radar system Erieye and other equipment related to the mission of monitoring and control. But this would have meant a wait of two to three years for equipment, plus costs substantially higher than those provided, which is why this option was definitively ruled out in April. Now we study the possibility of adapting an airborne radar, in development by INVAP, for surveillance and control of airspace.


Source: www.enfoque-estrategico.com