ASTOR is the United Kingdom's ground surveillance system. It is designed to provide information regarding the deployment and movement of enemy forces and will use state-of-the-art radar technology to obtain high resolution imagery of static features and can also identify and track moving vehicles.

ASTOR will be a brand new capability for the UK armed forces and the most advanced system of its kind anywhere in the world when it enters service. It will be a vital force multiplier in modern conflict where speed of battle is such that up-to-date information is crucial if troops are to be deployed effectively.

The British government announced that Raytheon Systems Limited had been selected to provide ASTOR in June 1999.

Negotiations between the UK's Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) and Raytheon were completed during 1999, and the contract was signed in December 1999. Work on the programme has since moved forward with wind tunnel tests of models and flight trials of Bombardier global express aircraft, with "lumps and bumps" representing the aircraft's satellite antenna dome and radar fairing, to take place during 2001.

A major event will be the critical design review in November 2001 when the design of the system will be 'frozen' to allow full scale production work to gather momentum. According to DPA officials they are trying to maintain flexibility in the systems design to allow more advanced technology to be inserted as economically as possible during the development. The Ministry of Defence has set an in-service date of 2005 for the system, with deliveries taking place until 2007.

In-service date

The ASTOR system will comprise five aircraft and ten ground stations, together with comprehensive training and maintenance facilities at the main operating base, RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire. The contract, including initial training and logistic support, is worth approximately £800m.

The Raytheon consortium includes Short Brothers, Motorola UK, GEC Marconi Avionics and Marshal SV. The participation of these companies, and others, ensures there will be a substantial UK industrial participation in the execution of the contract. The project management team is located in the UK and the prime contractor will place work representing 100 per cent of the contract value with firms in the country. The company estimates that the project will create or sustain around 2,500 UK jobs.

ASTOR will result in major work packages for UK companies and for the Raytheon facilities at Broughton, Harlow and Glenrothes. Around 2,500 jobs will be created or sustained in the UK, with the potential for an additional 4,000 jobs from export opportunities.

Performance

The global express is a modern, class leading, large business jet. It is able to fly above 40,000 ft to elevate the radar to the optimum altitude and has an endurance in excess of nine hours. The radar will operate well beyond visual range, so the aircraft has to be able to operate successfully at a safe 'stand off' distance behind the forward-edge-of-battle, greatly reducing the risk of loss to enemy action. It gives an image of the ground, showing features such as buildings and bridges, and an indicator of convoys and individual vehicles on the move. ASTOR has to be able to interface with the proposed military communications architecture and to be inter-operable with other NATO forces.

Key elements of ASTOR include: sophisticated dual mode imaging and moving target indicator radar (synthetic aperture radar/moving target indication (SAR/MTI)), installed on five, specially converted, global express aircraft. In times of crisis the radar has to be able to identify friendly and hostile forces - their number, quantity, direction and speed. In peacetime ASTOR could have an important role to play in the monitoring and managing of relief and help during natural or man-made disasters, in the controlling of smuggling and other border violations, etc. The radar can operate in either high resolution spot or wide area swath modes. The processing equipment develops the data into visual images which can be exploited by the airborne mission crew. By operating at altitudes of up to 50,000 ft, ASTOR will have superior 'look down' capability and the ability to stand off at long range.

The aircraft's 14 hour flight duration capability also gives the system considerable operational flexibility. The information is transferred from the aircraft via secure data links to ASTOR ground stations that are equipped with similar image exploitation equipment. Two types of ground station are utilised for ASTOR - a mobile tactical ground station and a transportable higher level ground station. Data can be transmitted to other areas via SATCOM and ground networks. ASTOR will be inter-operable with allies' systems including US and NATO. Where required, the airborne segment can operate independently of the ground stations, disseminating data via its communications systems.

Raytheon's ASTOR programme includes full in service support and crew training and is due to enter service in 2005 at RAF Waddington.

Ground surveillance airborne radar system (GSARS)

Raytheon has begun marketing versions of ASTOR to Europe and the middle east under the designation GSARS. The company says its system, that can be 'sized' to meet any particular nation's requirements, provides independent surveillance capability and offers inter-operability with other allies' systems.

The middle east is a key market for the ASTOR/GSARS because of its relatively low purchase and support costs. The major prize, however, is the NATO airborne ground surveillance but the issue of export sales of this type of system to European countries is highly political.

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