Recent success with an ultra-high frequency airborne radar system designed for measuring near surface annual accumulation layers has inspired the design and development of a ground based, high-power, ultra-high frequency, radar system. In order to fully validate the concept of ultra-high frequency ice sounding, and to help determine basal conditions in the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, the radar system would need to be capable of sounding up to 3 km of ice with fine vertical resolution. The work completed in the context of this thesis encompasses the design, integration, and field deployment of such a radar system. The radar is an 8-channel system operating from 600 to 900 MHz with a peak output power of 600 W per channel. An electrically large monopole antenna array, arranged in a 16 m × 17 m Mills cross configuration together with the high output power of the radar system was used to achieve a fine internal layer resolution of 60 cm. The radar system was first deployed to EastGRIP in Greenland during the 2018 field season with a peak output power of 100 W per channel. The system was then upgraded to 600 W per channel and redeployed to EastGRIP in 2019