Major Radar Upgrade Completed on U-S AWACS Fleet

ST. LOUIS, April 5, 2005 - Boeing [NYSE: BA] announced today the completion of the final Radar System Improvement Program, or RSIP, kit installation on the U.S. Air Force’s fleet of 32 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft.

Production and delivery of the RSIP kits began in 1998 and the retrofit was completed ahead of schedule and under budget. The contract was issued by Electronic Systems Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.

“With the RSIP improvement, AWACS crews can now detect and track smaller targets,” said Nigel Lo, Boeing RSIP Program manager.

RSIP kits, built by Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems, upgrade the surveillance radar’s existing computer with a new high-reliability multi-processor and rewrites to the software making it easier to maintain and enhance in the future. The RSIP modification also upgrades the radar’s antenna and receivers.

Boeing, as prime contractor and systems integrator, delivered the kits to Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., where the USAF depot maintenance personnel performed the installation. Boeing also provided technical support to the depot maintenance personnel installing the modification. Boeing engineers assisted in proactively resolving hardware and software incorporation issues.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world’s largest space and defense businesses. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $30.5 billion business. It provides network-centric system solutions to its global military, government, and commercial customers. It is a leading provider of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems; the world’s largest military aircraft manufacturer; the world’s largest satellite manufacturer and a leading provider of space-based communications; the primary systems integrator for U.S. missile defense and Department of Homeland Security; NASA’s largest contractor; and a global leader in sustainment solutions and launch services.

It has always been the most state of the art airborne radar in the world. Bar none.

Not anymore it's not. The Israeli Phalcon system, the Erickson Erieye(sic) and the radar on Boeing's own Wedgetail (737 airframe with unique ESA radar for Austrailia, Turkey and probably S. Korea) are considerably more sophisticated. Notice that the RSIP upgrade program started in 1998, meaning the design is somewhat older than that. Since the upgrade was mostly in the radar signal processor, (although the receiver front end and A/D converters were also upgraded) consider what the differences are between a computer you could have bought in 1998, verses what's on the shelf today.

Even for 1998, the RSIP upgrades were not all that much of technological advance. Well before '98, worked peripherally on a design for an AWACS type system that would have been mounted on a larger airframe, probably a 747. It would have been a 3 sided AESA type radar. Most AWACS users, including NATO, finished their RSIP modifictions years ago.

As far as the AWACS aircraft goes, it's design goes back to the 1950s, as the 707. Although the engines are one generation newer than the original 707 engines, the aircraft should have been, and still should, be equiped with more modern high bypass turbofans, like used on the Navy's E-6, which uses the same airframe and active duty Air Force KC-135s, which use a similar but not the same, airframe. The French, British and Saudi (IIRC) AWACS do use such engines. The more modern engines would allow a higher on station altitude, longer on station time before refueling is required due to having lower fuel consumption. (They aren't operational while refueling) and a faster climb to operational altitude. The Japanese AWACS, while using the same basic radar, uses a 767 airframe. The ability to fly higher would allow the increased detection range against most targets to be used, since the higher you fly, the farther you can see. The non-recuring enginneering for the engine installation has been done, what is missing is the commitment to scrape up a few bucks to buy or lease the engines. The heavier JSTARS aircraft is even more underpowered, but other than getting off the runway under high and/or hot conditions, that doesn't affect it's mission much, because operational considerations dictate a lower altitude. They do have to take off with less than a full load of fuel, and hit a tanker fairly quickly.

Will the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia get a similar upgrade?? They got all of theirs some years ago, IIRC. The USAF was budget constrained in procuring the upgraded components, the design of which was complete years ago. BTW, that means we paid a lot more than we would have if the hardware had been produced over a shorter period of time. And that hardware, or it's components, would have been less obsolete when installed.

Obsolescence of electronic components is a major problem for the military. The keep their stuff a long time, while manufacturers go out of business or stop producing the components due to low demand.

Boeing Completes Mission Computer Upgrade of Saudi Arabia's AWACS Fleet

This is a different upgrade. This one upgrades, but does not replace the "steam powered computer" (that's what the crews call it) used to drive the displays and keep track of all the targets (in radar jargon, friendlies, neutrals and enemy are all "targets"). The basic IBM 4 PI computer goes back to a similar computer used in the Saturn V launch vehicle (yea of the 1960s!) and the basic architecture is that of a dual processor IBM 360 (an ancient mainframe that provided my first intro to computers, back in the dark ages) It's basically two 360s, hence the name 4 Pi. :) I believe the upgrade consisted mostly of increasing the memory size and speed, but it's still small and slow compared to the machine you're likely reading this on. The Wedgetail design does away with all that, and goes to an "open architecture" system of many processors.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.