""Big Fred" the New Russian Battlefield Surviellance Radar" Topic

New SNAR-10M1 1RL232-2M battlefield surveillance radar unveiled at Oboronexpo 2014 in Russia.

"At the Defense Exhibition Oboronexpo 2014 in Russia, NPO Strela presents a modernized version of the battlefield surveillance radar SNAR-10 (NATO code name Big Fred). The SNAR-10M1 (Russian name 1RL232-2M) is a mobile surveillance radar used to locate moving ground and sea-surface targets.

"SNAR-10M1» is designed for location of moving convoys (rocket, artillery and mechanized units), single moving ground targets (tank, car, armored personnel carrier, group of people, single person), sea-surface targets (motor boat, ship, assault landing craft, etc.) and low-flying targets (helicopter, sports plane, UAV). High accuracy of location for targets and bursts of shells and mortar bombs allows the radar to be used for adjustment of own artillery fire.

The radar system is equipped with modern intercommunication and external communication facilities for automated data transmission, and an autonomous navigation system with digital terrain maps and satellite navigation subsystem. Standard equipment of the SNAR-10M1 includes autonomous navigation facilities with GLONASS/GPS, digital terrain map, intercommunication and external communication facilities and data transmission equipment…"

Full article here
link

Amicalement
Armand

great pic, maybe I should add it to one of our mtlb's?

The radar itself certainly isn't new. SNAR-10 has been in service since 1971.

While the SNAR-10 has been in service since the mid-70s, this system appears to use a completely new radar (1RL232-2M vs the old 1RL127).

On the RF end, the beam of the old SNAR-10 radar was scanned mechanically at ~1 Hz to cover a horizontal field of view of about 30 degrees (you have to move the turret to look past the edge of that field of view). The new SNAR-10M1 seems to have some sort of phased array or AESA radar, as indicated by the flat radar aperture when deployed. That requires a completely different waveform generation and amplification system than in the old 1RL127, whose components would have never fit into such a small package.

On the data visualization end, the system is now digital instead of analog. That allows overlay of targets onto terrain maps as well as the data links described. None of that existed in the original radar, where the translation from polar (radar-generated) coordinates to map coordinates was performed by a surprisingly robust and accurate, but slow electromechanical map table system.

Regarding the external appearance of the vehicle, there are only a few changes from the original 1971 version. As far as I can tell, these are:

1. A completely different-looking radar unit, which replaces the original foldable antenna and sits on top of the (otherwise completely unmodified) antenna base. It is much narrower than the original antenna, but is also folded down for transport into a clamshell enclosure
2. A new horizontal bulge on the right-hand side of the turret; the original had a smooth turret side wall
3. Relocation of the turret radio antenna mount from the commander's side (left, behind the radar antenna) to the top of the new bulge on the operator side (right)
4. Addition of what looks like a new cooling vent unit over the left back door; in the original the vent unit over the right door (the one with the rain gutter) extended the entire length. I wonder if that is for the new air conditioning unit
5. Replacement of the tall NBC-capable air intake filter unit on the engine compartment (right behind the machine gun turret) with a low-profile one
6. Addition of an extra something (hard to make out) behind the front antenna mount), above the spare track segments
7. Addition of a hatch above the driver's seat (although that change was made back in the early 1980s).

Otherwise the thing looks identical to the original, suggesting that it might be produced or is installable as a retrofit. Otherwise there would have been no reason to retain the complicated antenna sub-structure from the original.

There are some additional cool pictures at this site: nevskii-bastion.ru/snar-10m1

Cheers,
Tom

The biggest military technology development over the past dozen years is that for major end items like tanks, radars, fighter planes etc, actual hardware upgrades are unnecessary.

The real upgrade is for the associated software or sensors, so the weapon's effectiveness is greatly increased, and instead of a new tank, you just need to retrofit a new sight.

I love that command APC.