www.aviationnow.com/awin/awin_aerospacedaily/awin_aerospacedaily_story.jsp?issueDate=2003-08-14&story=xml/aerospacedaily_xml/2003/08/14/11.xmlSuper Hornets begin flight testing AESA radars Aerospace Daily08/14/2003
The U.S. Navy has launched the flight test phase for Raytheon's new APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, according to an Aug. 13 announcement.
AESA is being tested on the program's first customer, Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Naval Air Systems (NAVAIR) Command staged the first flight of the advanced radar on July 30 after integrating the system on the next-generation F/A-18.
"This is a major step toward making the F/A-18 all that we've planned it to be," NAVAIR F/A-18 program manager Capt. B.D. Gaddis said in a statement.
Boasting more than twice the detection range of current radars, the APG-79 AESA is made of a number of solid-state transmit and receive modules. Spin-offs of that technology are being used in the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program, which is integrating various advanced radars into the F/A-22, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the E-10A Multi-sensor Command and Control Aircraft.
The radar improvements include increasing the range and resolution of the aircraft's air-to-ground mapping system and improving situational awareness in the cockpit.
The APG-79 is expected to be delivered to the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fleet by 2006, following the flight testing and operational evaluation phases.
The Navy launched the program three years ago when Raytheon was selected by Boeing to integrate the AESA design for the Super Hornet fleet. The service plans to buy 411 systems for a lifetime cost of about $1 billion.