Saab AB was awarded a contract to provide Croatia with a coastal surveillance and border protection system to help secure the country’s maritime borders, the company said Wednesday.
The company’s CoastWatch Coastal Surveillance Network for Croatia is set to provide real-time information from radar sensors, advanced long range and thermal closed circuit television cameras, and Automatic Identification System (IAS). The sensors, deployed at strategic sites along the coast, will be connected to control centers in “one of the most advanced maritime monitoring systems operational in Europe,” Saab said.
The surveillance system will be operated by the Croatian Ministry of Interior Border Police. The new system is an extension of the country’s existing coastal surveillance system provided by Saab in 2010. The earlier system is operated by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport, and Infrastructure.
The new system will detect, identify, track, and monitor vessels up to 100 km away and provide operators with a maritime situational picture on a 24/7 basis. “The system will help the Ministry of Interior to protect its sea borders from all threats and intruders,” Saab said.
Saab is set to work with local company Končar – Engineering Co. for Plant Installation & Commissioning Inc. to perform installation and be responsible for the communication infrastructure, local maintenance and support.
Saab highlighted the project includes 40 different sites, some on islands only accessible by helicopter.
“We are proud that Croatia continues to trust our systems, as shown by this extension of its capabilities with Saab. It is a testament to the effectiveness and reliability of the surveillance system that protects Croatia’s borders,” Anders Carp, head of the traffic management business unit within the electronic defense systems business area at Saab, said in a statement.
The new surveillance system is planned to be operational by June 2016.