Collaboration for Weapons-Location Programme

Babcock and IAI‘s Elta division have signed an MoU to provide a deep-find radar for the UK MoD’s Serpens programme.

If successful, the companies’ pitch to meet the requirement will see Elta’s Compact Multi Mission Radar (C-MMR) system provided as the main Serpens sensor, with some production and integration taking place in the UK.

C-MMR can locate hostile weapon locations and calculate impact and launching points in real time, according to a joint statement. The technology, once integrated, will be exportable from the UK, the release says. “We have a capable, affordable and available solution,” Babcock’s chief technology officer, Dr Richard Drake, said.

Serpens, a new name given to the Next Generation Weapon Locating System programme in 2019, is due to reach a main gate decision in 2024, with deliveries to begin in 2026.