Sputnik News:
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — One of the United States’ leading defense contractors will work with Danish corporation Weibel Scientific to integrate the Gap-Filling Tracking Radar (GFTR) into the European ballistic missile defense (BDM) system, defense contractor Lockheed Martin said in a statement on Monday.
“The GFTR will be designed and implemented to provide full and overlapping coverage against a broad spectrum of threats across the European continent,” Lockheed Martin said.
According to the statement, the cooperation between Lockheed Martin and Weibel Scientific will add to the BMD system the ability to detect and engage ballistic missiles.
The radar’s precision tracking and discrimination capabilities will enable warfighters to defend across large geographical areas, the statement said.
The GFTR would fully leverage “advanced capabilities being incorporated in the NATO European BMD architecture,” Lockheed Martin added.
Russia repeatedly raised opposition to US proliferation of missile defense systems near its borders, claiming such moves represent a threat to Russia’s strategic nuclear deterrent. US and NATO officials say that the system is not aimed at countering a Russian threat.
The BMD systems were previously limited under the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty between the United States and Russia to avoid a strategic imbalance. The United States backed out of ABM Treaty in 2001.
Weibel Scientific is headquartered in Alleroed, north of Copenhagen, and designs and produces advanced Doppler radars.
