U.S. State Dept. approves Sea Giraffe 3D radars for the Philippines

By Ryan Maass | Dec. 14, 2016 at 3:03 PM

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 (UPI) — The U.S. State Department has approved the proposed sale of AN/SPS-77 Sea Giraffe 3D Air Search Radars to the government of the Philippines.

The pending sale includes two of the radars in addition to installation, training, testing, and support services. If approved by Congress, the program cost is estimated to be $25 million.

U.S. defense officials say the deal would bolster the country’s maritime awareness capabilities, allowing the Philippines to monitor their territories and Exclusive Economic Zones more accurately. The sale also aims to improve interoperability with the U.S. Navy, allowing the two armed forces to collaborate on missions more effectively.

The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency says the equipment will not alter the military balance of power in the region. VSE and Saab are listed as the principal contractors.

The AN/SPS-77 Sea Giraffe 3D Air Search Radars allow maritime operators to monitor airborne activity, and are designed to be installed on Hamilton-class cutters owned by the Philippine Navy.

Original post upi.com

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The Philippines – AN/SPS-77 Sea Giraffe 3D Air Search Radars: PDF

AN/SPS-77 Sea Giraffe 3D Air Search Radar

Today the Sea Giraffe AMB has the designation AN/SPS 77 V(1) for the US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship, LCS 2/4 and AN/SPS 77 V(2) for LCS 6 and higher.

Sea Giraffe AMB comprises the following main hardware units:

Antenna Unit (AU)
Transmitter Unit (TRU)
Signal and Data Unit (SDU)
Power Distribution System (PDS)

The following extended capabilities for the Sea Giraffe AMB baseline product configuration are available:

Stealth Radome
360˚ mortar/rocket detection and alert (C-RAM)
Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) interrogator antenna
IFF interrogator
Improved detection range and redundancy with an additional transmitter unit

The stealth radome is built with Frequency Selective Surfaces (FSS) to minimise the Radar Cross Section (RCS) and infrared signature of the above-deck parts of the Sea Giraffe AMB. The radome is capable of carrying equipment on the top, for example an ESM, ELINT and/or a COMINT. The counter rocket, artillery and mortar alert function detects, tracks and classifies very small ballistic objects in severe clutter. The point of impact, the ballistic trajectory as well as the impact position are calculated. A warning signal of impact position is given well in advance, allowing the ship to perform an evasive manoeuvre in order to avoid being hit.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION

Radar type	Stacked beam 3D radar
Antenna type	3D phased array, digital beam forming
Frequency	C (G/H)-band
Elevation coverage	> 70 degrees
Rotation rate	60 RPM
Instrumented range	180 km