A refurbished and upgraded radar facility for air and surface surveillance has been returned to the Swedish armed forces.

The handover of the Radar 871 facility was effected by FMV, the country's military procurement agency.

Work on refurbishing and modernizing the facility began in 2007.

"This is an upgraded version of the Radar System 870 which the Armed Forces use for air space monitoring and surface surveillance," says Mattias Alfredsson, FMV Project director.

"The system is used for detection, i.e. for the early detection of potential threats in the skies and on the sea surface. These potential threats are then identified by other means, for example by sending Gripen aircraft to the scene.

"The primary work we have done is to extend the system's lifetime to 2025, with associated higher availability and reliability rates. The system is used around the clock, throughout the year," he said.

Radar 870 units were introduced in the 1980s and are located close to coastlines.

The new Radar Facility 871 has a range of 10-15 nautical miles, and is used at low altitude. It also complements the long-range system for air surveillance and remote surveillance systems.

FMV said the facility handed over to the military is 70 percent complete and that remaining upgrades will be completed over the next two years.