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In 2017, Edi Rama insisted on an agreement with the Americans from Lockheed Martin, who installed the radar in 2020 for 22 million dollars. In 2025, he chose the French from Thales, while it is not known how much the financial bill will be...
Edi Rama has chosen the French Thales as a strategic industrial partner for Albania's air surveillance. It seems that the relations between him and French President Emmanuel Macron have decided that the Albanian Government should sign the agreement with Thales for the GM 400 Alpha system. It is not known why this company was chosen, when at least 7 years ago the Americans from Lockheed Martin were chosen to install the radar system in Albania.
At that time, Albania paid $22 million, approximately 19 million euros, for the long-range radar system, while the US-based defense equipment provider, Lockheed Martin.
The system, located on the northern mountain of Mida, became operational in November 2020.
Both Lockheed Martin and Thales are considered among the most highly regarded companies in terms of security, especially when it comes to radars used for air surveillance. It is not yet officially known how much Albania will pay for the radar system that will be received within 14 months, Thales said, but the cost of such a system, according to public data, is around $30 million.
The agreement between Albania and Thales was discussed during President Macron's visits to Tirana and the agreement was finalized in France, in the presence of the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, and the Albanian Minister of Defense, Pirro Vengu.
Thales was selected as a strategic industrial partner to support a short-term requirement to supply a combat-proven Ground Master 400 Alpha (GM400α) airborne surveillance radar.
At the Paris Air Show, Thales announced that it has signed a contract to supply Albania with a Ground Master 400 alpha (GM400α) radar within 14 months, as part of a program to modernize the country's air surveillance capabilities.
"Known for its exceptional reliability, unmatched performance and high mobility, the GM400α plays a critical role in aerial surveillance worldwide. It is a game-changer for aerial surveillance, with one of the highest performance records on the market. With its fully digital architecture, it tracks aerial threats at a range of up to 515 km, with superior detection of low-altitude targets, including slow-moving UAVs," Thales said in a statement.
“We are proud to support Albania with the rapid delivery of the combat-proven Ground Master 400 Alpha,” said Eric Huber, Vice President of Surface Radars at Thales. “With our increased manufacturing capacity and the support of our partner ecosystem, we are able to have rapid turnaround times in response to urgent operational requirements. The Ground Master 400 Alpha offers a reliable, high-performance, and highly mobile capability to meet Albania’s air surveillance and sovereignty needs,” he said.
In the period 2017-2018, Rama and his ministers were committed to concluding the agreement with the Americans from Lockheed Martin.
"We are interested in the presence of further investments by the American military industry in Albania. The integrated system for airspace surveillance is important, not only for the national security of Albania but for the entire NATO alliance," declared Olta Xhaçka in her capacity as Minister of Defense, during the meeting at Lockheed Martin in 2017. /Pamphlet/
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