VERA-NG radar by the ERA company
On June 14, the Ministry of Defence of the Netherlands announced that it will purchase VERA-NG passive surveillance systems for Ukraine.
The press service of the ministry said that four systems will be purchased for €150 million. The ministry didn’t clarify if the systems will be purchased directly from the manufacturer, Czech defense contractor ERA, or from one of the countries currently operating the VERA-NG.
The system was designed to detect, locate, track and identify aerial, ground and naval targets as well as to provide continuous wave signal analysis.
VERA-NG supports cross-border, long-term and long-range surveillance. The passive system is considered stealthy, as it emits zero electromagnetic energy making. It also provides the capability to collect and process electronic intelligence information.
ERA claims that the system has a range of up to 400 kilometers and can detect up to 500 targets at real time via the time difference of arrival, or TDOA, principle.
In addition the Netherlands, one of the main military backers of Ukraine, is going to announce during the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group the allocation of €40 million for the purchase of air defense equipment within the framework of a multilateral partnership. This equipment will be delivered to Ukraine in the near future.
The Russian military has destroyed dozens of surveillance and fire control radars of Kiev forces since the start of the special operation in Ukraine last year. Most of the radars were taken out with anti-radiation missiles, like the Kh-31P, and loitering munitions, like the Lancet.
Passive surveillance systems VERA-NG will be harder to detect, especially if they were deployed away from the front. However, these systems can’t fully replace active radar systems, especially in the air defense rule. These systems are for example incapable of detecting aerial targets that do not produce any kind of signals. They are also more vulnerable to electronic warfare.
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