SMART-L
Long-range, rotating AESA radar
title: "SMART-L" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["sea-radars", "thales-group", "military-equipment-introduced-in-the-2000s", "military-radars-of-the-netherlands"] description: "Long-range, rotating AESA radar" topic_path: "history/military" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART-L" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Long-range, rotating AESA radar ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox Radar"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | SMART-L |
| image | SmartLR.jpg |
| caption | SMART-L onboard F221 Hessen a Sachsen class frigate |
| country | Netherlands |
| manufacturer | Thales Nederland |
| :: |
|name = SMART-L |image = SmartLR.jpg |caption = SMART-L onboard F221 Hessen a Sachsen class frigate |country = Netherlands |introdate = |number = |type = |frequency = |range = |altitude = |diameter = |azimuth = |elevation = |precision = |power = |manufacturer= Thales Nederland |PRF = |beamwidth = |pulsewidth =
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/F_220_Fregatte_Hamburg.jpg" caption="F220 ''Hamburg'' of the [[German Navy]] with SMART-L radar"] ::
SMART-L (Signaal Multibeam Acquisition Radar for Tracking, L band) is a long-range naval search radar introduced in 2002 by Thales Nederland, formerly Hollandse Signaalapparaten (Signaal).
Design
The digital antenna array has 24 elements; all are used for reception, while 16 are used for creating virtual receiver beams through digital beamforming. The beams' vertical elevation, and compensation for ship movement, is done electronically. Horizontal training is done by mechanically rotating the entire array.
As designed, SMART-L has a maximum range of 400 km against patrol aircraft, and 65 km against stealthy missiles. A software upgrade, Extended Long Range (ELR) Mode, extends the maximum range for the detection of ballistic missiles to over 2000 km, since 2018 all four Zeven Provincien class Frigates of the Royal Netherlands Navy have been equipped with the update.
On the 25th of September 2017, as part of the exercise Formidable Shield 2017 the SMART-L MM radar system mounted on the test tower at the Thales premises in Hengelo, detected and tracked a ballistic missile launched from the Hebrides in Scotland at an average range of more than 1500 km without difficulties. The Thales SMART-L Multi Mission radar in Hengelo detected the target as soon as it appeared over the horizon and maintained a stable track for more than 300 seconds. The track quality was sufficient to enable Launch On Remote by BMD-capable naval ships.
Variants
- SMART-L
- SMART-L MM/N (Multi-mission, Naval)
- SMART-L MM/F (Multi-mission, Fixed)
- S1850M
Specifications
- Antenna system:
- Dimensions; 8.4 xx, 7,800 kg
- Number of antenna elements: 24 (16 transceivers, 8 receivers)
- Number of beams formed: 16
- Beamwidth 2.2° horizontal, 0–70° vertical
- Polarization: vertical
- Frequency: L band
- Rotational speed: 12 rpm
- IFF system integrated, D band
- Maximum detection ranges:
- Stealth missiles: 65 km
- Patrol aircraft: 400 km
- Ballistic missiles:2000 km after software upgrade.
- Maximal numbers of tracked targets:
- Airborne: 1000
- Seaborne: 100
Users
::data[format=table]
| Ship class / Air force use | Operator | Variant | Quantity | Notes | Land applications | Land applications - sub-total | 2 | Naval applications | Naval applications - sub-total | 27 | Total | 29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Operations Control Station Nieuw-Milligen | SMART-L MM/F | 1 | ||||||||||
| Radar station Herwijnen | SMART-L MM/F | 1 | ||||||||||
| Swedish Air Defence & Control - SLRR programme (särskilt långräckviddig radar) | SMART-L MM/F | Unknown | ||||||||||
| SMART-L MM/N | 4 | |||||||||||
| SMART-L | 1 | |||||||||||
| S1850M | 2 | |||||||||||
| 2 | ||||||||||||
| - modernised | SMART-L MM/N | 2 | ||||||||||
| 2 | ||||||||||||
| SMART-L | 3 | |||||||||||
| S1850M | 2 | |||||||||||
| SMART-L | 3 | |||||||||||
| Type 45 destroyer | S1850M | 6 | ||||||||||
| :: |
References
References
- "SMART-L Radar". www.Radartutorial.eu.
- "SMART-L 3D Long range surveillance radar". Thales.
- Jack Oosthoek. (12 August 2016). "Amerika prijst Nederlandse ‘raketoverste’". Defensie.nl.
- "SMART-L MM". Thales Nederland.
- "SMART-L MM". Thales Nederland.
- link. (2013-10-20)
- Jack Oosthoek. (19 December 2017). "SMART-radar ‘nieuwe stijl’ is binnen". Defensie.nl.
- Defensie, Ministerie van. (2022-09-22). "SMART-L-radar - Radarstations luchtgevechtsleiding - Defensie.nl".
- (2024-08-02). "Netherlands: Nieuw Milligen radar station upgraded with Thales GM400α radar".
- "Netherlands to Deploy 2,000-Km Range Radar at Herwijnen after Environmental Approval".
- (7 July 2023). "FMV i miljardavtal med Thales om särskilt långräckviddig radar".
- Saballa, Joe. (2023-07-10). "Sweden Buys Thales SMART-L Special Long-Range Radar".
- Defensie, Ministerie van. (2023-06-22). "Luchtverdedigings- en commandofregat (LCF) - Materieel - Defensie.nl".
- Ganta, Himaja. (2021-06-01). "US Navy destroyer uses Thales’ radar for SM-3 Launch on Remote test".
- "Dokdo class LPH Landing Platform Helicopter Amphibious ROKN".
- (2023-09-18). "Eurosam selects Thales radars for Horizon-class air defence frigates".
- "S1850M – Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance".
- "Iver Huitfeldt class Guided Missile Frigate Royal Danish Navy".
- Trevithick, Joseph. (2024-04-02). "Danish Frigate Suffered Radar, Combat System, Gun Problems During Red Sea Ops: Reports".
- "S1850M Long Range Radar".
- Manaranche, Martin. (2021-08-24). "German Navy Upgrades Radar Systems On F124 Sachsen-class Frigates".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::