Thales to build successor to France’s aging Graves VHF space-surveillance radar; UHF Aurore to be more precise and faster

by Peter B. de Selding

MOUTAIN VIEW, Calif. — The French arms procurement agency, DGA, has selected Thales to build the Aurore ground-based UHF-band radar to replace the aging, but remarkably cost effective, Graves bistatic VHF system in service since 2005.

The contract, announced Oct. 28, was signed Oct. 24. Financial terms were not disclosed. The Graves radar, capable of detecting satellites at up to 1,000 km in altitude, was originally conceived as an experimental project with a budget of 30 million euros, equivalent to about 50 million euros ($58 . . .

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