Kelvin Hughes to supply SharpEye radar system to Pakistan Navy

The Pakistan Navy has placed a follow-on order to Kelvin Hughes for the delivery of a second SharpEye Doppler submarine radar system.

Kelvin Hughes is set to supply its second set of radar systems for the navy’s newest Agosta 90B-class, or Khalid-class, diesel electric attack submarine under the latest deal.

The new radars will be installed on-board the Pakistan Navy submarines as part of its mid-life upgrade programme, which is currently being carried out at the Karachi Pakistan Naval Shipyard.

The original contract was awarded to Kelvin Hughes in February this year and saw the company deliver the I-Band SharpEye Doppler submarine radar system for the navy’s first Agosta 90B-class vessel.

Kelvin Hughes is expected to work in collaboration with the modernisation programme’s main contractor, Turkish defence company STM, in support of the initiative.

Kelvin Hughes regional sales manager Barry Jones said: “We have a long standing relationship with the Pakistan Navy and STM and I am very pleased to be working with STM to supply the state-of-the-art SharpEye radar system to the Khalid-class submarines.”

The SharpEye radar solution for the first ship is slated to be supplied to the navy next year, while the newly ordered system for the second vessel is scheduled for delivery in 2019.

SharpEye I-Band (X-Band) radar transceivers feature a downmast transceiver system installed in an enclosure located within the pressure hull.

This configuration provides submarines with a high-performance solid state radar with similar capabilities to SharpEye radars deployed on naval surface ships, both in-service as a retrofit and for installation on-board new classes.

The downmast submarine radar solution makes use of the existing bulkhead infrastructure in the pressure hull, thereby eliminating the need to replace the antenna mast system by utilising the existing external antenna, rotational drive and waveguide connections.