Air Force Opens New Radar Point on Muhu Island
A new Ground Master 403 medium-range air surveillance radar system was opened by Defense Minister Urmas Reinsalu and Riho Terras, the Commander of the Estonian Defense Forces, on Tuesday.
The commander of the Air Force, Colonel Jaak Tarien, told ERR radio on Tuesday that the radar will offer good coverage of the Baltic Sea, where the larger Kellavere radar, situated in eastern Estonia, does not sufficiently reach.
The new radar can be packed up and transported to a different location, if needed, has a range of up to 470 kilometers and offers detection from a very low altitude.
The Muhu station is the nation's third military radar point, after Kellavere and the one at Ämari airbase. When a second Ground Master system is installed near Otepää next year, Estonia's radar system will be in line with NATO standards.
Estonia bought the two Ground Master radars in 2009 as part of a joint tender with the Finnish Air Force, which ordered 12 systems.