Thales has announced that it has signed the contract with NSPA (NATO Support and Procurement Agency) for the supply of a ForceShield system to the Portuguese Army.
The Portuguese Army had already announced on an Instagram post that RapidRanger would be its future air defense system, and on October 27th, on an interview aired on CMTV, the Army Chief of Staff, Eduardo Mendes Ferrão also announced that the contract had been signed that week. Thales now makes its own announcement and brings more details into the contract.
According to Thales, ForceShield will be made up of a Ground Master 200 air surveillance radar, a radio communications system, the air defense command and control centre ControlView, portable weapon terminals and RapidRanger launchers with both LMM and Starstreak (1). Portugal is also becoming the first European nation to purchase ForceShield.
As per the tender on NSPA, Thales will supply 1 radar, 3 launchers and 2 portable weapon terminals and 7 missiles, with Portugal having the option to contract an additional radar, launcher, 2 portable weapon terminals and 3 batches of 8 missiles each.
The Portuguese Army currently seeks two fire units from its air defense program, initiated in 2017, equipped as follows (2):
1st Fire Unit: 1 C2 module and 3D radar, 2 launchers and two portable weapon terminals
2nd Fire Unit: 1 C2 module and 3D radar (optional), 2 launchers (1 of them being optional) and two portable weapon terminals (optional)
Delivery times and exact costs are still unknown. The story will be updated as more details emerge. In the meantime, you can read the previous article on Portugal selecting the RapidRanger here
Sources:
2 https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/detalhe/despacho/9707-2024-885192161