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Information received by 'International Report' has started to flesh out the bones of the British Army's proposed Mobile Artillery Monitoring Battlefield (MAMBA) radar programme. Designed to support the evolving Joint Rapid Reaction Force, the MAMBA requirement will provide a highly mobile mortar and in-flight munition detecting radar that is capable of round-the-clock operation in all weather conditions. Key user requirements include a minimum range of 15 km, air transportability, a 75 m circular error of probability against a 155 mm shell at a range of 15 km and an elevation of 25, a 50 percent probability of detection, an operational availability figure of at least 95 percent over a 30-day in-action period and interoperability with indirect fire systems via digital links. As currently scheduled, a preferred MAMBA bidder is expected to be selected by the end of this year, with a procurement contract being signed by the end of March 2001. The envisaged initial operating capability for the first five MAMBA systems is set at 2002/3, with a second tranche of four radars having a target in-service date of 2008/9. The British Army already evaluated the Swedish Arthur and American Firefinder radars in the MAMBA context in 1999. It is not known whether this evaluation was intended to define the MAMBA requirement or examine systems capable of fulfilling the programme specification.