LAR (local acquisition radar)

LAR stands for local acquisition radar. It is a NATO military abbreviation, recorded in the Glossary of NATO Acronyms and Abbreviations alongside its French equivalent, radar d'acquisition local.

The term describes a radar function. It is not a numbered system designation or a product name. Suppliers who come across the abbreviation in allied defence documentation can use the NATO glossary to confirm what the letters stand for and to avoid confusing LAR with similar-looking abbreviations.

How NATO records the LAR entry

NATO's 2013 glossary (publication AAP-15) lists the entry as "LAR, local acquisition radar." The same entry gives the French form, radar d'acquisition local, which matters for bilingual Canadian documents. The glossary attributes the entry to the NATO Air and Space Group, abbreviated NASG.

• Abbreviation: LAR
• English expansion: local acquisition radar
• French equivalent: radar d'acquisition local
• Attributed to: NATO Air and Space Group (NASG)

LAR and LARS1 are different abbreviations

The same NATO glossary separately lists LARS1, which stands for "laser-aided rocket system." LARS1 has no connection to LAR beyond a similar spelling. A bid team searching solicitation documents or allied technical publications should treat the two as distinct and read the surrounding text to see which one is meant.

NATOTerm as the reference for NATO terminology

NATO's official database for non-classified military terminology, and terminology relevant to NATO, is NATOTerm. Teams that work with NATO-aligned requirements can use it, together with the acronym glossary, as the authoritative check on how NATO defines and abbreviates a term. The glossary entry for LAR supplies the expansion and the French equivalent. It does not set out a technical performance definition or a system specification.

How Canadian radar procurements are described

Canadian defence radar purchases are published under their own project terminology. In June 2021, Public Services and Procurement Canada announced two contracts on behalf of National Defence for the tactical control radar capability, with a combined value of $186 million including taxes. The first contract covered three tactical control radar systems, subsystems and associated equipment, with an estimated value of $154 million including taxes. Details are in the PSPC announcement.

Canada's Arctic Over-the-Horizon Radar program is described as A-OTHR, as set out on the National Defence A-OTHR page. Both examples show that Canadian radar programs carry their own names, which differ from the NATO abbreviation LAR.

What LAR means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

Treat LAR as a NATO terminology reference, not as a Canadian procurement category. If the abbreviation appears in a solicitation or its technical documentation, follow the definitions and requirements stated in that solicitation, and use the NATO glossary to confirm the expansion.

• Watch current radar and defence opportunities on CanadaBuys tender opportunities.
• Use National Defence's information for companies page to find procurement notices, requests for information and bid submission information.
• Search by the program's own terms, such as tactical control radar or A-OTHR, as well as by NATO abbreviations.