Posted on 02/21/2008 1:16:31 AM PST by Jet Jaguar
Northrop Grumman Corporation unveiled a new company funded program to develop an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) at the Singapore Air Show.
The Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) will be a full performance fire control derived from proven AESA technology. The new radar is being designed for retrofit to existing F-16 aircraft and can be scaled to fit other platforms and mission areas.
"SABR is the most recent development in a long line of Northrop Grumman AESA airborne fire control radars," said Chris Sheppard, F-16 Sensor Systems Program Development manager. "SABR will offer all the advantages of an active electronically scanned multi-function array, more than just a radar, but at a lower price than AESA fire control radars now available."
"We look forward to supporting the F-16 aircraft worldwide for at least 30 more years, and SABR is our investment towards maintaining the F-16's combat capability. SABR leverages investment in technologies derived from AESAs produced for the U.S. Air Force and our international partners," said Sheppard.
Northrop Grumman is designing SABR to accommodate the F-16 electrical and physical interfaces without modification to the aircraft. It will fit within currently defined power and cooling requirements and support the existing pilot-vehicle interface. Although currently being designed for F-16, the array is scalable and adaptable to other platforms and missions.
The new radar will provide the increased multi-function performance inherent to AESA technology: improved situational awareness and detection, high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and interleaved air-to-air and air-to-ground modes provide pilots true all-weather, day or night precision strike capability. SABR demonstration flights are planned for later this year on Northrop Grumman's Sabreliner, which emulates the F-16 avionics suite and has been used for previous F-16 radar testing.
Northrop Grumman Corporation is a $32 billion global defense and technology company with 120,000 employees worldwide.
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