German defense company Hensoldt, known for its radar systems, has signed a long-term agreement with United Monolithic Semiconductors (UMS) running until 2030. The deal provides for the supply of a total of 900,000 gallium nitride semiconductor components for radars manufactured by Hensoldt.
The company stated that this contract will both strengthen supply chains and support production capacity expansion in light of growing demand for their products.
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Demand for high-performance sensor solutions is growing significantly worldwide. To ensure reliable supplies to our customers, we are systematically expanding production capacity while simultaneously strengthening our supply chains. The long-term agreement with UMS is a key component of this strategy and supports the expansion of serial production of modern radar systems used worldwide for air defense and security, emphasized the company's CFO Christian Ladurner.
Hensoldt uses gallium nitride-based semiconductors in both receiving and transmitting modules of its radar systems. These enable creation of truly powerful frequency amplifiers, which is crucial for range, accuracy as well as energy efficiency of the systems.
It’s noted that these semiconductors will be installed in radar systems of the Spexer family. Even limiting ourselves strictly to these models, it’s worth noting that this news is useful for Ukraine as well.
Back in July last year, it became known that the Defense Forces will also receive the drone-killing Spexer 2000 Mk 3 radar from Hensoldt. This radar is part of the Skyranger 30 air defense system from German Rheinmetall, but can also be used separately and integrated into various platforms. It's an excellent solution primarily for detecting unmanned aerial vehicles.
Let's also recall that Hensoldt supplies Ukraine with one of its bestsellers the TRML-4D radar station, which is used in the IRIS-T surface-to-air missile system.
Moreover, over the past several years, Hensoldt has received numerous orders for its radars and hit the limits of available production capacity. Last year they announced capacity expansion and promised to reach rates of about 1,000 radars per year starting in 2027.
Defense Express previously reported that TRML-4D radars tested in Ukraine are being ordered even more, this time additionally for Iris-T SLM air defense systems in Europe.
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