Artillery detection radar COBRA

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German artillery location radar COBRA on MAN gl chassis (2005)

The artillery location radar COBRA ( CO under B attery RA dar) is an artillery reconnaissance system developed by Euro-Art (a consortium made up of Thales , Airbus Defense and Space and Lockheed Martin ), based on a radar device with an active phased array antenna and an integrated Integration into the national artillery command and weapon deployment systems, in the case of the German version in the artillery, data, situation and deployment computer network (ADLER). Can be located howitzers and mortars , and rocket artillery , mm from a caliber of 80 s. The COBRA artillery tracking radar is operated by three soldiers.

COBRA is intended to perform the following tactical tasks on the battlefield:

  • Detecting, locating and classifying enemy projectiles, rocket positions and artillery units.
  • Prediction of hit coordinates.
  • Establishing the effect and correcting fire from your own artillery fire.
  • Source of educational information.
  • Determination of data on the fault situation.
  • Communication with the combat units.
French COBRA radar

The COBRA program was carried out trilaterally in collaboration with France and the UK. The OCCAR (core of a European armaments agency ) was responsible for handling the program . Between 2001 and 2005, 29 units (France: 10, Germany: 12, Great Britain: 7) have been delivered to Trilateral so far. Two of the German systems are sold to Turkey.

The development of the artillery location radar COBRA goes back to the 1980s. The project of this radar was initiated by the nations of France, Germany and Great Britain. The EURO-ART GmbH consortium was formed for development and production. This consortium was composed of the companies Lockheed Martin (USA), Thomson-CSF (F), Racal (UK) and Siemens (D). The development and production of modern and mobile high-angle weapons, which also had a long range, required a countermeasure. A system had to be developed with which it was possible to identify artillery positions at an early stage and to combat them in a broader sense. The solution to this problem was the putting into service of an artillery location system with a precise radar system. In 2004 the first systems were delivered to France, Great Britain and Germany. Not only is the reconnaissance of the enemy artillery positions part of the radar's range of tasks, the system also calculates the trajectory of the grenades fired. This means that all parts in the supposed target area can be warned. Furthermore, the COBRA can be used to monitor and direct your own steep fire. In the German Federal Armed Forces, the COBRA system is integrated into the command and weapon system (FüWES) of the "ADLER" artillery. Multiple electronic dangers from the use of jammers play an essential role in a modern battlefield. With this location radar, great value was therefore placed on resistance to such interference units and corresponding countermeasures were automated. The detection of the radar should be made more difficult by short activation times and a narrow scanning range. If there is a jamming transmitter within the scanning range, this is automatically filtered out by the software and displayed. The area in which this transmitter is located is blocked for subsequent radar scans. In order to avoid permanent interference, it is also possible to carry out frequency hops. The most important systems in the radar have been designed redundantly so that constant functionality is guaranteed, even if a single component fails. Defects are detected at an early stage using automated calibration and diagnostic processes and the radar is switched off. Due to the high degree of automation, it is possible that the operating team of the COBRA system consists of only three soldiers.

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