Posted on 12/07/2010 11:34:03 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
Raytheon's Advanced Combat Radar, the latest Active Electronically Scanned Array radar, has successfully completed a series of flight trials on a U.S. Air Force F-16 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
The radar demonstration flights were conducted in partnership with the U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin. The RACR team highlighted the multirole capabilities RACR could bring to the F-16 Fighting Falcon, which included executing a range of air-to-air and air-to-ground modes.
RACR is the product of company-funded development, leveraging Raytheon's proven capability in providing active electronically scanned array radar technology for multiple platforms. The RACR team completed development in a record 24 months.
"AESA radar technology has become a 'must have' for customers around the world who need to keep their aircraft relevant in the swiftly evolving battlespace," said Jim Hvizd, vice president, international business development, Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems.
"Successfully flying RACR on an F-16 is another critical step in demonstrating how we've optimized our AESA technology for F-16 customers, delivering the advanced radar capabilities they need to maintain an operational edge.
"Raytheon's AESA technology also lowers operation and support costs by an order of magnitude compared with those of mechanically scanned radars, resulting in significant customer savings over the life of a program," added Hvizd.
RACR is part of a family of Raytheon AESA radar systems designed to equip multiple aircraft with a low-risk, high-performance, affordable solution. The radar supports a rapid transition to production, leveraging Raytheon's existing full-rate AESA production lines, providing significant cost and schedule advantages for customers.
(Excerpt) Read more at defencetalk.com ...
Ping
F-16 ping
This might give us an unfair advantage.
0bama will shut the project down, and hand over the technology to the Chinese and Iranians.
It would be interesting to see how RACR compares to SABR. Nations with F-16s, like Pakistan and Egypt, must be following the progress quite seriously.
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