On January 3, 2024, the Ministry of National Defense of Lithuania announced the signing of a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands on the joint purchase of multifunctional artillery radar systems Thales Ground Master 200 Multi-Mission / Compact (GM200 MM/C) from Thales Nederland (the Dutch branch of the Thales Group).
Prototype of the multifunctional artillery radar complex Thales Ground Master 200 Multi-Missiop/ Compact (GM200 MM/C) designed for the Dutch Army on a Scania (8x8) automobile chassis, 2021 (c) www.aviaworld.com
The cost of Lithuania's purchase of the Thales GM200 MM/C radar is 126.7 million euros, including a logistics package, an initial set of spare parts, a set of special tools and test equipment, as well as training of personnel. It is planned that the first radar complexes will be delivered to Lithuania in 2026.
Developed by Thales Nederland together with the Dutch Army, the GM200 MM/C radar, belonging to the new so-called Thales 4D AESA family, has a stabilized multipath rotating AFAR on gallium nitride, and is capable of solving both the tasks of detecting enemy artillery and missile positions, and detecting various aerial targets, including small UAVs, low-flying missiles, etc. Multipath Electronic scanning is carried out both by the angle of the place and by azimuth. According to Thales, the radar capabilities make it possible to determine the coordinates of even individual enemy artillery or rocket launchers during their battery-fired volley fire. Another variant of this station is the Ground Master 200 Multi Mission "all in one" radar (GM200 MM/A), optimized for air defense tasks and primarily for detecting aerial targets, including high-altitude ones.
The claimed detection range of the GM200 MM/C radar of aircraft exceeds 400 km, MLRS missiles - more than 70 km, 155-mm projectiles - more than 40 km. The compactness of the complex ensures a high level of mobility with the possibility of transportation and integration on platforms of various types. The deployment time at the position does not exceed two minutes. Together, this makes it possible to use the GM 200MM/C complex as a radar for marking firing positions, as well as for detecting air targets and issuing target designation as part of a short-range air defense system. In addition, the radar can be switched to a mode in which it performs all three roles simultaneously.
In February 2019, the Dutch defense procurement organization DMO signed a launch contract with Thales for the purchase of nine GM200 MM/C complexes under the designation Multi Mission Radar (MMR) for the Dutch ground forces, deliveries began at the end of 2022. In May 2021, Norway signed an agreement with the Dutch Ministry of Defense on the purchase of five GM200 MM/C radars with an option for three more, and in November 2022, the Norwegian side transferred three option stations to a firm contract. The total cost of the Norwegian purchase is 195 million euros, all eight radar sets are to be delivered from the end of 2023 to the end of 2025. In October 2023, according to a similar scheme, Denmark concluded an agreement on the purchase of five GM200 MM/C radars with the Dutch side. Finally, Lithuania has now joined this procurement program under the leadership of the Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands. which became the fourth customer of the GM200 MM/C radar.
An approximate image of the multifunctional artillery radar complex Thales Ground Master 200 Multi-Missiop / Compact (GM200 MM/C) designed for the Lithuanian Army on a Mercedes-Benz Zetros (6x6) (c) Thales Nederland automobile chassis
Video (from) Thales Nederland :