As a result of a strong commitment to respond to nations' growing demand in coastal surveillance systems, FURUNO ELECTRIC CO., LTD. And Thales have signed a worldwide agreement in order to develop and market hybrid surveillance systems designed to detect and track small surface targets.

FURUNO and Thales jointly introduced a first new radar Coastwatcher 10, which provides a high performance, low-cost solution for short range maritime surveillance. Coastwatcher 10 combines a standard FURUNO FAR-2157 navigation radar with a Thales's small target post-processor. Coastwatcher 10 is designed to detect and track a wide range of asymmetric surface threats and unidentified targets with very low signatures in a wide range of sea conditions.

The new radar can also be offered as an upgrade or retrofit package on existing FURUNO coastal surveillance radar systems to enhance small target detection operations. Coastwatcher 10 benefits from the two companies' skills in signal processing, radar technology and extended services supported by a dedicated worldwide network. This agreement brings new business opportunities and enhances their competitive positions in domestic and export markets in short range maritime surveillance domain.

Hiroyuki Mori, Managing Director and Divisional General Manager of FURUNO's Marine Electronics Products Division, said: "We are very happy that FURUNO radar has been selected by Thales through the company's thorough evaluation process. The reliability and detection capability of the FAR-2157 have been proven in the field where the best available performance is required under harsh operating environment, meeting demands of the most critical users."

Jean-Loic Galle, Thales's Managing Director of Surface Radar business, said: "Our customers will clearly benefit from the unique combination of advanced signal processing combined with COTS radar hardware and the extensive FURUNO local supply chain. It is a clear breakthrough in the world of coastal surveillance radars as far as product lifecycle support and maintenance is concerned."

About Thales

Thales is a leading international group, addressing Defence, Aerospace and Security markets worldwide. Thales's expertise in its core markets spans the entire value chain, providing all the capabilities its customers require, from equipment and systems to comprehensive support services, and including prime contracting on large-scale programmes.
Thales's leading-edge technology is supported by 22,000 R&D engineers who offer a capability unmatched in Europe to develop and deploy field-proven mission-critical information systems. To this end, the group's civil and military businesses develop in parallel and share a common base of technologies to serve a single objective: the security of people, property and nations.
The group builds its growth on its unique multi-domestic strategy based on trusted partnerships with national customers and market players, while leveraging its global expertise to support local technology and industrial development. Thales employs 68 000 people in 50 countries with revenues in 2007 of € 12.3 billion.

Information about Thales can be found at http://www.thalesgroup.com/airsystems

Contact Us

Atsushi Takagi, Manager of Section 1, International Marketing Dept.
Phone: +81(0)798631071
FAX: +81(0)798664622
Email: atsushi.takagi@furuno.co.jp