Electronic Warfare

ARTHUR

Also known as
  • Arthur
  • Artillery Hunting Radar
  • ARTHUR artillery hunting radar
  • MAMBA
  • TAIPAN
  • Saab Arthur

ARTHUR is Saab's mobile weapon locating radar family for counter-battery work: it detects artillery, mortar, and rocket projectiles in flight, calculates firing and impact points, and feeds counter-fire or warning networks. UK defence sources documented MAMBA, the British ARTHUR designation, supporting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, while Ukrainian artillery-reconnaissance troops were later documented operating British MAMBA/ARTHUR in 2022.

ARTHUR, Weapon locating / artillery locating radar, Electronic Warfare
Image source: Wikimedia UA ARTHUR Radar

Role in Conflicts

Profile / Specs

Profile

Origin
Sweden / Norway
Built by
Saab
Built in
Sweden
Type
Weapon locating / artillery locating radar
Service note
Developed in the 1980s, delivered from the early 1990s, and still marketed in upgraded digital forms.
Designer
Ericsson Microwave Systems with Swedish and Norwegian defense-agency cooperation; Saab inherited Ericsson Microwave Systems' radar business in 2006.
Designed
1980s
Produced
Early 1990s-present

Specifications

Primary function
Mobile weapon locating and artillery locating radar for counter-battery operations
Tracked threats
Artillery shells, mortar bombs, and rockets
Core outputs
Projectile tracks, firing points, and impact points
Latest advertised warning range
Up to 100 km for incoming indirect fire in Saab's 2025 Swedish-order release
Deployment time
Deploys and redeploys in less than 2 minutes
Antenna integration
Designed around a 3 m antenna that can be integrated on a suitable fighting vehicle
Mod D radar technology
Active phased-array antenna with Gallium Nitride transmit/receive modules in EDR's description
Mod D radar mass
Less than 1,400 kg excluding power supply and communications systems in EDR's description
Operators
Saab describes Arthur as in service with more than a dozen countries, including multiple NATO users
Counter-Battery Role

Arthur is a sensor rather than a gun: its battlefield value comes from turning incoming rounds into firing-point and impact-point data. Saab describes it as a forward-deployed weapon locating system that tracks artillery projectiles, calculates points of origin for counter-battery action, and generates impact-point data for intelligence and warning networks.

Target set

Artillery, mortar, and rocket fire tracked through projectile flight.

Survivability method

Short emission windows and rapid redeployment, with Saab listing deployment and redeployment in less than two minutes.

Ukraine relevance

Ukrainian artillery-reconnaissance troops were reported operating MAMBA/ARTHUR at the front in 2022; Norway and Sweden later confirmed Arthur transfer or procurement lanes for Ukraine.

Variants

ARTHUR has moved through multiple national names and upgrade standards; MAMBA and TAIPAN are British Army designations for Arthur generations.

VariantConfigurationDesignation notes
Mod B / MAMBAEarlier British Army Arthur generation

Saab identifies MAMBA as the last-generation Arthur radar replaced by the newer TAIPAN systems in British service.

Sources: Saab TAIPAN Delivery

Mod CPre-Mod D upgraded Arthur generation

EDR describes the transition from Arthur Mod C to Mod D, noting that Mod C used travelling-wave-tube technology before the Mod D active phased-array shift.

Sources: EDR Arthur Mod D Roadmap

Mod D / TAIPANDigitized current-generation Arthur

Saab says five next-generation Arthur systems named TAIPAN were delivered and accepted by the British Army in 2024, replacing MAMBA and improving range, target handling, mobility, and electronic-warfare signature.

Sources: Saab TAIPAN Delivery, EDR Arthur Mod D Roadmap

Ukraine Artillery Support Links

Sweden's March 2025 Ukraine artillery package connects Arthur to other cataloged artillery support lanes without making those systems technical components of the radar. The same government release authorized five Arthur counter-battery radars from Saab and 18 Archer artillery units from BAE Systems Bofors, and separately described Danish-initiative support that could be used for Bohdana artillery systems.

Catalog linkSupport laneSource-backed connection
Archer, 155 mm wheeled self-propelled howitzer, ArtilleryArcherSwedish artillery unit procurementThe Swedish release lists 18 Archer artillery units and five Arthur counter-battery radar systems in the same Ukraine artillery-capacity package, with Arthur deliveries due to begin in 2025 and Archer deliveries in 2026.
2S22 Bohdana, 155 mm wheeled self-propelled howitzer, Artillery2S22 BohdanaPotential Ukrainian production supportThe same package includes financial support to Ukraine's defence industry through the Danish initiative, which the release says could be used for Bohdana artillery systems.

Source: Swedish Ukraine Artillery Package.

Timeline

ARTHUR Key Events

  1. Lightweight weapon-locating radar developed

    EDR describes Arthur as a Saab-developed lightweight, highly mobile weapon locating system from the 1980s, with deliveries beginning in the early 1990s.

    Sources: EDR Arthur Mod D Roadmap

  2. Ericsson Microwave Systems becomes part of Saab

    Saab completed its purchase of Ericsson Microwave Systems on September 1, 2006, bringing the radar business into Saab as Saab Microwave Systems.

    Sources: Saab Ericsson Acquisition Complete

  3. DE&S summarizes MAMBA Iraq and Afghanistan use

    DE&S described the British Army's MAMBA weapon-locating radar as a Saab-supported counter-fire capability that had supported operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

    Sources: Desider MAMBA Extension

  4. ARTHUR documented in Ukrainian service

    ArmyInform reported Ukrainian artillery-reconnaissance troops operating British MAMBA/ARTHUR counter-battery radar at the front; the related Wikimedia file identifies an ARTHUR artillery radar in Ukrainian service.

    Sources: ArmyInform MAMBA ARTHUR Report, Wikimedia UA ARTHUR Radar

  5. Norway confirms Arthur radar delivery

    Norway's defence minister confirmed delivery of three Arthur artillery-location radars to Ukraine in close collaboration with the United Kingdom.

    Sources: Norway Arthur Ukraine Statement

  6. TAIPAN accepted by the British Army

    Saab reported that five next-generation Arthur systems, named TAIPAN by the British Army, had been delivered, accepted, and assigned to 5th Regiment Royal Artillery.

    Sources: Saab TAIPAN Delivery

  7. Sweden authorizes five Arthur radars for Ukraine

    Sweden's government authorized FMV to procure five Arthur counter-battery radar systems from Saab for Ukraine as part of a roughly SEK 3 billion artillery package.

    Sources: Swedish Ukraine Artillery Package

Digital Arthur Generation

Open sources distinguish the latest Arthur generation from older MAMBA-era radars by digital antenna and active phased-array changes. Saab's British-delivery release says TAIPAN replaced MAMBA and provides greater-range, higher-target-capacity counter-battery operations with reduced electronic-warfare signature. EDR describes the Mod D shift from Mod C travelling-wave-tube technology to Gallium Nitride active phased-array modules, laptop-based remote control, and a radar mass below 1,400 kg without power and communications equipment.

Media

ARTHUR Videos

ARTHUR Images

ARTHUR, Weapon locating / artillery locating radar, Electronic Warfare - view 1
Source: Wikimedia TAIPAN Dynamic Front
ARTHUR, Weapon locating / artillery locating radar, Electronic Warfare - view 2
Source: Wikimedia UA ARTHUR Radar
ARTHUR, Weapon locating / artillery locating radar, Electronic Warfare - view 3
Source: Wikimedia ARTHUR In Position
Related Weapon Systems
AN/TPQ-37 Firefinder radar, Long-range counter-battery radar, Electronic WarfareElectronic WarfareAN/TPQ-37 Firefinder radarLong-range counter-battery radarThe AN/TPQ-37 Firefinder is a U.S. long-range weapon-locating radar built to detect artillery and rocket launches, compute firing points, and pass coordinates for counter-battery fire. Developed from the Army's Firefinder program and produced by Hughes Aircraft before later Raytheon/ThalesRaytheonSystems sustainment and upgrade work, the Q-37 complemented the shorter-range AN/TPQ-36, shaped Coalition counterbattery tactics in Desert Storm, and later appeared in Ukraine's partner-supplied artillery reconnaissance network.
1K148 Yastreb-AV, Self-propelled counter-battery artillery reconnaissance radar complex, Electronic WarfareElectronic Warfare1K148 Yastreb-AVSelf-propelled counter-battery artillery reconnaissance radar complexThe 1K148 Yastreb-AV is a Russian self-propelled counter-battery radar complex attributed to the Almaz-Antey industrial group and Tula-based NPO Strela. Open reporting describes it as a phased-array artillery reconnaissance system on a BAZ-6910-025 8x8 chassis, built to track incoming shells or rockets and calculate artillery firing positions for counter-battery fire. Russian state-linked reporting announced its use with Russian artillery units in Ukraine in January 2024, while Ukrainian military, government-linked, and independent news coverage later documented the destruction of multiple Russian Yastreb-AV systems.
AN/TPQ-53 multimission radar, Mobile multimission counterfire and air-surveillance radar, Electronic WarfareElectronic WarfareAN/TPQ-53 multimission radarMobile multimission counterfire and air-surveillance radarThe AN/TPQ-53, commonly called Q-53, is a Lockheed Martin mobile active electronically scanned array radar that began as the Army's counterfire replacement for AN/TPQ-36 and AN/TPQ-37 Firefinder radars. Its baseline mission is to detect, classify, track, and locate mortar, artillery, and rocket launches in 90-degree or 360-degree modes, while software and open-architecture upgrades have extended the same family into counter-UAS, air-surveillance, and wider multimission radar roles.

Sources

Saab Arthur Product PagePublisher: Saab | Note: Supports Arthur's current product identity, Saab manufacturer context, weapon locating system role, forward tactical deployment, projectile tracking, firing-point and impact-point calculation, under-two-minute deployment/redeployment claim, vehicle integration, and multinational operator context. | Accessed: 2026-07-07Swedish Ukraine Artillery PackagePublisher: Government Offices of Sweden | Note: Supports 2014 Russia-Ukraine War direct conflict-use and transfer context by documenting FMV procurement of five Arthur counter-battery radar systems from Saab for Ukraine, stating that Arthur had previously been donated to Ukraine by Sweden and the United Kingdom, and describing the radar's artillery-projectile detection and origin-calculation role. | Accessed: 2026-07-07ArmyInform MAMBA ARTHUR ReportPublisher: ArmyInform | Note: Supports 2014 Russia-Ukraine War direct conflict-use by reporting Ukrainian artillery-reconnaissance troops operating British MAMBA/ARTHUR at the front in October 2022, and supports role context for detecting artillery fire, calculating firing and impact points, and supporting counter-battery fire. | Accessed: 2026-07-07Norway Arthur Ukraine StatementPublisher: Government of Norway | Note: Supports 2014 Russia-Ukraine War direct transfer context by confirming Norway's delivery of three Arthur artillery-location radars to Ukraine in close collaboration with the United Kingdom in May 2023. | Accessed: 2026-07-07Wikimedia UA ARTHUR RadarPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports the primary image, its CC BY 4.0 ArmyInform provenance, and direct 2014 Russia-Ukraine War Ukrainian-service context for an ARTHUR artillery radar dated October 11, 2022. | Accessed: 2026-07-07Wikimedia ARTHUR Radar TatraPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports a gallery image of an ARTHUR artillery hunting radar on a Tatra vehicle at IDET/PYROS/ISET 2019, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike terms. | Accessed: 2026-07-07Wikimedia TAIPAN Dynamic FrontPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports a public-domain gallery image of a British Army TAIPAN, the Saab Arthur counter-battery radar on an RMMV HX 6x6 truck during Dynamic Front 25. | Accessed: 2026-07-07Wikimedia ARTHUR In PositionPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports a public-domain gallery image of an ARTHUR radar deployed in position. | Accessed: 2026-07-07Saab TAIPAN DeliveryPublisher: Saab | Note: Supports the TAIPAN and MAMBA variant/designation context, British Army delivery and acceptance of five next-generation Arthur systems in 2024, and Saab claims about greater-range target location, mobility, reduced electronic-warfare signature, and support through Saab UK. | Accessed: 2026-07-07Desider MAMBA ExtensionPublisher: Defence Equipment & Support, UK Ministry of Defence | Note: Supports direct 2001 War in Afghanistan and 2003 Iraq War use by stating that the British Army's MAMBA weapon-locating radar systems supported operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, identifying a pictured MAMBA in Al Amarah, Iraq, and describing hostile-fire detection, origin/impact calculation, counter-battery, fire-control, and sense-and-warn functions. | Accessed: 2026-07-13Saab Sweden Arthur OrderPublisher: Saab | Note: Supports current Arthur artillery-locating-radar background, latest-version incoming-fire warning capability up to 100 km, Saab vehicle integration, multi-projectile tracking, origin calculation, and Swedish FMV order context. | Accessed: 2026-07-07EDR Arthur Mod D RoadmapPublisher: EDR Magazine | Note: Supports development-era context, Mod C to Mod D transition details, active phased-array/GaN module description, remote-control and containerization notes, British TAIPAN/MAMBA context, Mod D mass, projectile detection examples, and accuracy figures. | Accessed: 2026-07-07Saab Ericsson Acquisition CompletePublisher: Saab | Note: Supports the manufacturer-lineage statement that Ericsson Microwave Systems became part of Saab on September 1, 2006 as Saab Microwave Systems. | Accessed: 2026-07-07