SELEX Galileo Seaspray radar to be installed on Finnish Border Guard surveillance aircraft

Paris, Le Bourget, 21 June 2011 – SELEX Galileo, a Finmeccanica company, is pleased to announce that the Company’s Seaspray 5000E Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar is to be installed on Dornier 228 maritime patrol aircraft operated by the Finnish Border Guard (Rajavartiolaitos).

The contract from SSC will see the 5000E variant of the Seaspray radar family installed and integrated with SSC’s maritime surveillance system on the Dornier 228s. The contract award followed a competition where SSC selected the Seaspray 5000E radar for its reliability and availability, and its ability to precisely detect small targets due to its AESA beam steering capability. The lightweight nature of the radar also made it ideally suited to the twin turboprop Dornier 228 aircraft.

The contract follows previous work with the Finnish Border Guard who already fly the Seaspray 2000, a maritime surveillance radar optimised for civil/paramilitary applications such as border protection. The new Seaspray 5000E radars will be used by the Border Guard for duties including sea rescues and anti drug-smuggling operations.

Notes to editors
At less than 45kg, the Seaspray 5000E is the smallest of the Seaspray radar systems. It is a multi-mode surveillance radar appropriate for light naval helicopters and twin turbo-prop surveillance aircraft such as the Dornier 228. The Seaspray 5000E is in full production, with SELEX Galileo having previously been awarded a contract to upgrade a fleet of naval Sea King helicopters.

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John Stevenson
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email: john.stevenson@selexgalileo.com