Force Protection Against C-RAM Attacks for Germany's Armed Forces

German Armed Forces receive early warning system to protect against rocket, artillery and mortar attacks.

22 April 2021
 

 

The GA-10 Early Warning System 

Thales' Ground Alerter 10 (GA10) will provide German Armed Forces with a C-RAM (Counter - Rocket, Artillery, Mortar) alert and impact zone early warning for camp protection as well as dismounted operations in convoy protection.

GA10s are already in use to protect UN camps in North East and Eastern Mali, and are used by French Forces in several out-of-area camps.  

Its integrated alert network warns military personnel of missile and mortar threats by generating an acoustic and visual alert at the estimated impact point area.

As soon as the trajectory indicates an imminent impact in the respective safety area,  the system simultaneously provides reliable data on the firing position at an early stage to facilitate necessary countermeasures.

Thales says only one person is needed to initialise and monitor the system. Being the lightest system of its class and evidently portable (one or two-man loads), redeployment is possible with protected vehicles or by helicopter.

Mandatory for mobile operations, the GA10 prime power consumption only amounts to 350 watts and facilitates battery-only supply.

The GA10 C-RAM system features a fully automatic 24 hours/7 sense and warn capacity, and low power consumption facilitating battery-power only for out-of-area missions.

The contract between Thales and the German procurement agency, the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) is the result of a tender issued last December.

Ground Alerter 10 is a European design, with final development in Germany – a military-off-the-shelf series product – drawing on strong radar expertise and operational experience at the Thales Germany Ditzingen site where highly mobile radars for ground and coastal surveillance are developed and manufactured.

 

THE GA-10 C-RAM SYSTEM: MAIN FEATURES

The Ground Alerter 10 consists of an UHF radar, an integrated alert network with several wireless and wired alert devices and a control device (hardened laptop).

The radar system comprises the following main components:

  • Antenna (including GPS positioning system) with a 6 m telescopic mast
  • Electronic RF unit (RFC)
  • Electronic signal processing unit (SPC)

The power supply consists of two six-packs (sixtuple battery arrangement) of Li-ion batteries of the internationally common type BB2590 in a transport box that also serves as the recharging unit.

A respective interconnection (J unit) allows the battery boxes to be alternated during operations avoiding power interruptions. The system is operated via the VENUS operating software on a hardened laptop with European keyboard. The integrated alerter network selectively generates an acoustic and visual alert only in the area around the impact point.