The UK defense ministry has awarded Sweden-based defense technology company Saab a contract for the mid-life extension and support for the Arthur weapon locating system.
According to the company, the contract is worth 482 million SEK (approx. $50.6 million) and was booked in late 2019.
Arthur protects forces and civilians by providing warning of incoming fire and is also used for tasks including counterbattery missions and fire control.
The mid-life extension will represent a major program of obsolescence management by the insertion of modern technology, ensuring that this critical operational counter-fire capability can be sustained on a cost-effective basis through to its extended out-of-service date.
Deliveries of the mid-life extension will take place between 2022 and 2023. The support contract covers 2020-2026. Saab will carry out the work in Gothenburg, Sweden, with support also taking place at 5th Regiment Royal Artillery’s Marne Barracks in Catterick, UK. Arthur is known in the UK as the Mobile Artillery Monitoring Battlefield (MAMBA) radar.
The UK received the first Arthur systems from Saab in 2003, after which the systems supported operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
