ISKRA Develops New Radar with Southeast-Asia Country

09 Juni 2016

80K6K1 radar on site (all photos : Defence UA)

“All-Seeying Eye” from Ukraine: Up-to-Date Radar

Ukraine is a top-ten country in the world engaging in developing and producing radar systems. In the country there are research schools maintained for the above activities, there are national manufacturers of corresponding elemental base and components, as well as manufacturers capable to propose their own, state-of-the-art solutions with a view to ensuring air space control.

The correspondent of Defense Express had an interview with the representative of the leading Ukrainian enterprise - developer and manufacturer of ground-based radar equipment, Deputy Director of Science of State Enterprise “Scientific and Production Complex “Iskra” (SE SPC “Iskra”) Mr. V. F. TRAILIN.

Mr. V. F. TRAILIN, what is the situation at Iskra today?

Preceding 2015 turned out to be extremely arduous not only in the area of batch production but first of all in the field of new projects. Correspondingly the amount of work to be done is increased repeatedly in the scientific and technical centre of the enterprise.


What are the causes of the situation?


From 2012 onwards our enterprise has been getting orders both for serial radars and for development and production of new modified versions of actual radars. Thus in 2012 we developed 80К6М radar, a high-mobile version of 80К6 radar family capable to survey in elevation sector up to 55 degrees. Followed by year after, 2013, radar 80К6К1, developed for another customer, came into service.


At the turn of 2014 one of our permanent customers made a request to have the radar with antenna system installed at the tower in order to significantly detect low-flying targets. The new version has been developed within a year and by now it has already been shipped to the Customer. Now the radar has been successfully running to the Customer’s full satisfaction.   By the way, it should be remembered that the enterprise principal activity during last two years is focused on the order batch from Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

It turns out that nowadays a foreign customer can make peculiar demands to serial radars?

Moreover, the contract future depends on the readiness to satisfy customers’ requirements that is why we have to display compliance. It's good that the structure of our enterprise allows effectively and promptly developing and manufacturing such products.

Solid-state 80К6Т radar with digital APARis of great interest for some countries of Middle East region

And what about the projects as per МR-18 metric radar and solid-state version of Digital APAR 80К6Т radar represented last year?


We are working strictly according to the stipulated schedule. Within 2016 we are to complete manufacturing samples МR-18 and 80К6Т. All components of these radars are produced, adjusted and tested and the final assembling of the radars is carried out at present.

The development and production of new radars is the process requiring considerable expenses. The concurrent manufacturing of two different radar types demands solid argumentation. May I ask about this?


Both radar types have been designed as per analysis of requirements which are laid down by different customers, taking into account the long-term operation of our products in various climatic zones and, naturally in consideration of our own vision concerning the prospects of the branch development. We made it our aim to create the all-purpose, easy-to-use and at the same time effective radars on the basis of active phased arrays in the most perspective wavebands: metric (VHF/UHF) and centimetric (S). The core features of these radars for customers should be their reliability, capability to work at high altitudes and transportation ability by different types of transport. МR-18 is 2D high-potential omnirange radar (early warning system) able to detect the stealth targets. 80К6Т is 3D high-potential omnirange radar possessing high performance capabilities to detect and calculate coordinates of variety of targets and to operate under different interference environment. The radar belongs to type GCI according to NATO classification.

MР-18 radar. Start of tests

The market of S-radars is adequately represented, including foreign manufacturers. Is there any new equipment proposed by your enterprise?


First of all, as I noted before, we have carried out the market analysis and concentrated on weak positions of competitors – our radar can offer much more capabilities in the field of detection range and, according to our estimation it is the maximum level for such type of radar. For instance, the radar allows detecting targets RCS 2m2 at range up to 450km. At the same time the radar has been designed in such a way that allows upgrading as far as concurrent technologies will be developed. In addition, the main distinctive characteristic of our enterprise is readiness for cooperation with foreign partners in the area of manufacturing new radar versions on terms of SKD or CKD. It is a good chance for us to unload in-house facilities, the workload of which has recently been tending to 100%. For our partners it is a chance to gain access to radar design and production engineering.

Can you outline the countries being your partners in these projects?


The metric radar МR-18 is being designed for one of Southeast-Asia country. As for 80К6Т radar we have rather an interesting situation. As a consequence of its development we have possibility now to participate in the tender procedure in one of the Southeast-Asia countries, which has been lasting at present. At the same time, during the last year two major countries from Middle-East region took an interest to arrange domestic manufacturing of the mentioned radar and we have already established the contractual relationship with one of the countries.

Is it possible to use these radars as the part of Armed Forces of Ukraine?


Absolutely, these radars are inherently the next generation of radar population, which have been added to arsenal of Ukraine nowadays and as you know, Armed Forces of Ukraine is our most important customer and initiator of the latest undisputed technologies.

(Defence UA)