Mercury Computer Systems of Massachusetts is supplying Application Ready Subsystems to BAE Systems for ARTISAN 3D Naval Radar.

The Advanced Radar Target Indication Situational Awareness and Navigation radar is replacing existing systems on surface ships of the British navy.

"This win underscores the strength of our 10-plus year relationship with BAE Systems, where Mercury has delivered advanced ARS solutions for critical multifunction radar systems like BAE Systems SAMPSON, a key component of the (British navy's) Type 45 destroyer Sea Viper system," said Didier Thibaud, senior vice president and general manager of Mercury Computer Systems' Advanced Computing Solutions business unit.

"BAE Systems selected Mercury for the ARTISAN program because of our unequalled domain expertise, superior ISR subsystem technology, and ability to design, deliver, and integrate scalable, high-performance computing systems that comprise Mercury and third-party components."

The U.K. Ministry of Defense chose BAE Systems' ARTISAN 3D radar as the next generation of medium-range radars for the majority of the British navy surface fleet and for future aircraft carriers.

ARTISAN 3D radar is a leading-edge, maritime MRR designed to improve the performance of the navy's primary sensing capability, particularly when operating in a complex littoral environment. As a scalable architecture suited for a wide range of platform types and operational requirements, ARTISAN 3D is replacing radar systems on Type 23 frigates and amphibious assault ships as well as two new carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, for which it will provide Air Traffic Management functionality.

"ARTISAN is designed as a main surveillance and target indication radar for surface vessels, from offshore patrol vessels to major warships. Additionally, it is designed to be future-proof and to meet the same stringent SWaP (size, weight and power) requirements of the system it is replacing," said Chris Jones, ARTISAN Project team leader, BAE Systems Mission Systems.

"It is critical that the signal processing system not only provide enhanced computing performance but also a clear upgrade path for technology insertions."

Mercury said its ARS solutions for the ARTISAN program combine open architecture, high-density VXS processing modules, a Serial Front Panel Data Port sensor interface, and RapidIO-based switch fabric with the MultiCore Plus software suite, the company's comprehensive programming framework for multi-core processing environments.

Mercury's Services and Systems Integration team will provide integration services for third-party components to be used in the radar system, the company said.

Additional details in the Mercury-BAE arrangement for the subsystems weren't disclosed.

Mercury Computer Systems is a provider of open, commercially developed, application-ready, multi-INT subsystems for the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance market and provides domain expertise in radar, EW/SIGINT, EO/IR, C4I and sonar applications.

Mercury has worked in concert with 26 prime contractors to successfully execute more than 300 deployments on programs such as Aegis, Global Hawk, JCREW, Patriot, Predator and SEWIP.