Searchwater Radar - Variants

Variants

• Searchwater: the first model of the family, basic anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare (ASW/AsuW) radar without air-to-air capability, installed on board Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MR2 ASW aircraft.
• Searchwater AEW: Also known as Searchwater LAST (Low Altitude Surveillance Task), the AEW version for helicopters as a lesson learned from the Falklands War.
• Skymaster: Development of Searchwater AEW/LAST, combining the air-to-surface capability of the original Searchwater and the air-to-air capability of Searchwater AEW/LAST. Developed as the radar for Argus-2000 AEW&C system to be installed on British Aerospace Nimrod AEW3.which was eventually cancelled. However, 6 complete Argus-2000 AEW&C systems plus two more Skymaster radar as spares were purchased by China in 1997 for 66 million US dollars. The experienced gained from Skymaster/Argus-2000 program despite its eventual cancellation has been used in the modernization of other models of Searchwater radars.
• Searchwater 2000: Upgrade package of Searchwater series including the integration of Link 11 and Link 16, faster computers and advanced operator console with colored display. Installed on Sea King Mk 7 and successfully deployed in Afganistan with over a thousand missions performed.
• Searchwater 2000 AEW: latest AEW model of Searchwater radars developed from Skymaster and Searchwater 2000, with the incorporation of moving target inication (MTI), compatibility with Link 22, and improved capability in littoral water.
• Searchwater 2000 MR: Intended for the cancelled BAE Systems Nimrod MRA4; it has synthetic aperture radar and inverse synthetic aperture radar modes.
• Searchwater ASaC: Latest member of Searchwater radar family with ground moving target indication capability added, specifically designed for AEW&C applications over land and sea.