Elbit Systems UK delivers new radars to Royal Artillery

The UK’s Royal Artillery is undergoing an extensive modernisation with most of its systems being changed or improved over the next decade. The Ground’ Based Surveillance Radar from Elbit Systems UK is just one example. 

Elbit Systems UK has delivered the first Ground Based Surveillance Radar to the UK’s Royal Artillery following a £14 million contract award in 2023 for 50 of the systems, according to a November 12 press release. The deliveries follow successful trials earlier in the year and “will enhance the situational awareness of personnel on the ground, help keep them safer, by better-detecting enemy threats,” Martin Fausset, CEO of Elbit Systems UK, said. 

Once in service, the radar will replace the Man-Portable Surveillance Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (M-STAR) radar that has been in use since 1991. Elbit Systems UK worked with another Elbit subsidiary, Pro Patria from Hungary for the radar head with some changes made for the UK. The tripod carrying the radar is from Instro Precision, which is a subsidiary of ESUK. A grid tab has been added, meaning some changes to the software. Over 300 of the radars are in service with other NATO allies, the ESUK team explained, adding that the British Army contract included 90 radars with a further 15 ordered at a later date. Delivery is expected soon, although exact dates were not provided. 

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The radar head weighs 14kg and is attached to a 5 kg rotator and tripod. It will detect targets up to 40km and the Doppler element can be used for acoustic detection. This means that the radar can effectively detect the movement of people patrolling through brushes or long grass, for example, which produces a certain Doppler shift (a change in the frequency of the radar caused by movement). Although, this would require a very skilled operator, the company representative explained. This capability would be particularly useful for observing dead ground where the line of sight of the radar waves might be obscured. Outside of infantry, the radar can detect a tank at 25 km. There is also a mode on the control tablet that enables the operator to remove ground clutter.

The radar uses a frequency modulated continuous wave, which means that it is emitting all of the time that it is turned on. This means that when it hits something, the return will be a different frequency giving both range and velocity. The radar is expected to perform in two roles: Detect and classify people and vehicles as well as detect and correct the UK’s fires. Like the Dismounted Joint Fires Integrator, the radar comes with a wire to the control tablet that allows the operator to be at 100 m distance from the radar or it can be linked to a C2 element.

Calibre comment: The future of radar? 

When Russia entered Ukraine in 2022, it was heavily reliant upon UAVs and counter-battery radars for its counter-battery doctrine. Large powerful systems like the Zoopark-1M were expected to be used to find Ukrainian guns and generate firing solutions. Indeed, that is the role that they performed, however the Ukrainians also proved adept at finding and striking them. It is also worth noting that the Russians had developed similar capabilities in terms of tracking AN/TPQ-36 Firefinder radars that had been supplied to Ukraine in the lead up to the war. This included the use of specialist reconnaissance drones fitted with an electronic warfare payload that was employed to jam or spoof the radar so that it did not detect the incoming artillery rounds that were targeting it. So, with all of this in mind, is there a future for reconnaissance radars on a modern battlefield? The answer is yes, there is, but they need to be employed in a very well established combined arms setting with ample air defence and force protection measures. Without that in place, their emissions profile is simply too great to be survivable. 

By Sam Cranny-Evans, published on November 17th, 2025. The lead image shows the Ground Based Surveillance Radar deployed with British forces. Credit: Elbit Systems UK.