Aesa Radars - Future of Air Combat.

[shankarosky]

while AESA is good -russian air to surface missiles still using PESA radars since thier designers feel they are more rugged and reliable an important factor in any combat system

 

[Sridhar]

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Selected Literature On Russia's PESA & AESA Radars


TRISHUL: Selected Literature On Russia's PESA & AESA Radars

 

[John]

The Elta EL/M-2052 (offered to India) :

Features :
> 1500 + T/R modules (the F-22's has 2000)
> ridiculously high tracking capability of 64 targets
> In air-to-sea mode, it can acquire and track surface targets up to 160 nm away
> see more in the pic

EL-2052 was on offer for LCA but now LCA has its own AESA being developed. IAI is kicked out from any part of MRCA. Israeli equipment will not adorn the MRCA no matter which aircraft it is, US has stopped them from coming close to the MRCA, due to price concerns.

 

[A.V.]

gripen offering second generation AESA for MRCA here are the details

NEW DELHI:The race for an Indian Air Force (IAF) order for 126 combat jets in a deal worth $10 billion just got more interesting with Swedish plane maker SAAB offering an advanced version of a state-of-the-art radar with its Gripen fighter and also the wherewithal to enable its programming here.
"What we are offering is a second generation AESA (advanced extended search array radar) that incorporates a swishplate that enables it to rotate and considerably enhances its capabilities over the existing radar," Gripen International's India director Eddy de la Motte told reporters Wednesday.
"The radar will come with its software source code."
The software source code has been a sticky point, with at least two of the six manufacturers in the race for the IAF order, which could go up to 200 planes, expressing reservations on transferring this to India.
Without the code, the IAF would be dependent on the manufacturer who is selected for the order for programming the radar, thus impinging on the country's national security, a defence analyst pointed out.
Listing the other advantages of the single-engined Gripen, whose IN version is currently on offer to be followed by the NG (next generation) version, de la Motte pointed to its low lifecycle costs, quick turnaround time, quick engine replacement time, advanced avionics and the fact that the IAF could install a weapons suite of is choice on the aircraft.
"In terms of costs, including the life cycle cost, the Gripen is 50 percent cheaper that the other single-engined aircraft (in the fray) and 25 percent cheaper that the double-engined aircraft (in contention)," the SAAB official pointed out.
While the IAF has already begun its flight evaluation trials of the six jets in the running, it is yet to resolve the contentious issue of whether it wants a single-engined or a twin-engined aircraft.
When the IAF first floated its Request For Information (RFI), it was looking for a replacement for its aging Soviet-era Mig-21, a single engined fighter.
Of the six aircraft now in contention, only two - the Gripen and the Lockheed Martin F-16IN Super Viper - are single engined. The other four - the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, the French Rafale, the Eurofighter Typhoon built by a European conglomerate and the Russian Mig-35 - are twin-engined.
The SAAB official pointed out that the Gripen was the only aircraft that provided the IAF the opportunity to select the weapons of its choice.
"With the other manufacturers, the IAF will have to take the weapons the aircraft comes with. With the Gripen, the IAF can chose from the best that is available in the international market," de la Motte maintained.
The flight trials, being conducted in humid conditions in Bangalore, desert conditions in Jaisalmer and high-altitude conditions in Leh, will conclude in March 2010. Thereafter, the field will be narrowed down to two or three aircraft, after which the price negotiations will begin, with the first of the planes arriving in 2012-13.
Eighteen of the aircraft will be purchased in flyaway condition and the remaining will be manufactured by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) under a transfer of technology agreement

The New Indian Express - Best of South India News, Entertainment, Cricket, Business, Lifestyle

 

[shankarosky]

source code issue will be problem with hornet and flacon as well -so far they have not transfered this part pf software to any non nato nation

 

[LETHALFORCE]

ASIAN DEFENCE: Zhuk-AE X-band AESA radar offered to India

Zhuk-AE X-band AESA radar offered to India

Russia's Phazotron NIIR corporation said on Thursday it has developed a new-generation airborne radar for MiG-35 fighter jets which participate in the Indian fighter tender.Six major aircraft makers - Lockheed and Boeing from the United States, Russia's MiG, which is part of the UAC, France's Dassault, Sweden's Saab and the EADS consortium of British, German, Spanish and Italian companies - are in contention to win the $10 billion contract for 126 light fighters to be supplied to the Indian Air Force.


One of the selection criteria in the tender is that the fighter's radar must have an active phased array radar with a target detection range of at least 130 kilometers (about 80 miles)."We have met this requirement of the Indian tender and built the Zhuk-AE active phased array radar with a proven range of 148 kilometers," said Vyacheslav Tishchenko, the company's general director.The X-band radar can track 30 aerial targets in the track-while-scan mode, and engage six targets simultaneously in the attack mode.


Tishchenko said the detection range could be increased up to 200 km (125 miles).Russia's MiG-35 Fulcrum-F, an export version of the MiG-29M OVT is a highly maneuverable air superiority fighter, which won high international acclaim.The fighter is powered by RD-33 OVT thrust vectoring engines. The RD-33 OVT engines provide superior maneuverability and enhance the fighter's performance in close air engagements.The first demonstration flights of two MiG-35s in the Indian tender will be carried out in late October-early November in north-eastern India.The aircraft will conduct live-firing tests of on-board weaponry on a testing range in southern Russia in March-April 2010.

 

[venom]

Russia is saying that they will offer a improved ZHUK-AE with 200 kms range for a 3 m2 target rather than the present one which has 148 kms range by placing the radar a little behind.

 

[Quickgun Murugan]

Awesome informative stuff guys:goodstuff:. If only there were a rating for this thread I would rate it 5 stars!

 

[venom]

Tikhomirov's NIIP AESA radar for PAK FA

The correspondent of Russian 'Independent Military Review' Viktor Litovkin has published last week a new article about Russian 'Tikhomirov's NIIP' radar design house, which is the developer of AESA radar for 5th generation PAK FA fighter (Russo-Indian Future Fifth Generation Fighter - FGFA program). Here I publish my brief translaton of this article in my blog with some my comments at the end:

"The visitors of MAKS -2009 air show in Zhukovskiy (Moscow district), which is starting at August 18, will be surprised. They will see the full-scale AESA X-band radar, developed for the Russian prospective multifunctional fighters (PAK FA).

OBVIOUS SENSATION



Why the appearance of this AESA is sensation? It's obvious. Yet other country publicly demonstrated a working AESA radars. Only the dummy models and the antenna mock-ups were demonstrated in Farnborough, Le Bourget, Berlin and Dubai. It never was acting radar for many reasons, including competitors fear.

Why 'Tikhomirov's NIIP' decided to act more openly? It's not only for emphasizing the high level of Russian last generation fighter, but also for showing Russian potential in creating AESAs for different modernization options. It's for Su-27 , Su-30, and MiG fighters, just as for other different ground-based systems of military and civil purposes.

The NIIP specialists emphasize that demonstrated AESA is manufactured on the domestic elements based on advanced Galium-Arsenide nano-size heterostructure technologies. The NIIP designers work on electronic scanning arrays (ESA) more than 40 years. Their first world ESA radar for fighter-interceptors was installed on the board of serial MiG-31 aircraft in 1981.

However, the represented model is far ahead of its ancestor in terms of detection capabilities , energy effectiveness, and modes of work . If comparing to passive ESA the advance of active ESA radars is lying in more effective realization of different “air-to-air” and “air-surface” modes, in its power, signal-noise factor, range of detection and so forth.

AESA advance contributes not only to the simultaneously detection of several aerial targets at maximum range (see-first-kill-first capability), but also, which is especially difficult, in targets tracking, disregarding of their maneuvers. If radar can continuously track the target, it is doomed.

AESA radars are more reliable than PESA because in case of one transmitting element failure the radar follows to work.

ONBOARD INTELLECT

It is intended to sharply increase the level of the automation of control systems for maximally unbound the pilot from the routine control functions, with concentrating on tactical missions solution. This is especially important for the one-sitting multifunctional combat aircraft.

On the prospective fighters, says Yuri Belyy (NIIP), it will no longer be just radar, but the integrated radio-electronic system, which includes radars in several wave bands, an identification system, electronic warfare (EW) and electronic intelligence (ELINT). According to him all this is connected into the united ideology, the united concept, and will give the “synergetic combat effect”.

NIIP's AESA emitting modules (MMICS) are made on basis of proved serial technology, being manufacturing on the automated producing lines. For this purpose the state ensured colossal technological rearmament of one of the Moscow enterprises - “Istok inc.” (Fryazevo, Moscow district). Two product lines are under building: the line, where chips themselves are done and an assembly-line, where these chips are assembled into the microcircuits, and then they are integrated into the elements of antenna. These are the specialized micro-chip of superhigh frequencies (SHF), the monolithic integrated circuits of SHF band (MMICs). The more numerous such elements, the more powerful the radar. The quantity of modules in the antenna can reach several thousand.

NIIP's director Yuri Belyy emphasized that this is maximally automated production, in which a human factor is almost excluded. Early there was no such technology in Russia. The equipment, which is not produced in our country, was imported from different states, including Japan. However, Yuri Ivanovich (Belyy) did not say, how many radars they have manufactured.

- Everything is done upon the specific orders, it explained. – We have the manufacturing capability of "Istok", NIIP and 'Ryazan instrument plant' (GRPZ). Now we are transferring all the there necessary documentation and technology. During this program the new production housing with the new equipment was built… “In principle we are ready to equip with our radars up to 50 aircrafts per year”, - said Yuri Belyy.

NIIP's chief said also, that they do AESAs not only for fighters, but for other military systems too. Current antenna phased arrays technology can become standard for different purposes. It can be used in all military services, including long range antiaircraft missile systems, which are now created by “Almaz-Antey” and medium distance 'Buk' AAMS. Maximal unification and serial volume will give huge cost effect. It's the way Americans go: they transfer their military technologies into to civil sector - into the systems of communications and navigation, in warning system of rail transport etc…

- Although, it's impossibly to install our products on each car, we still are going to interest the railroad manufacturers in installing our civil devices for increasing the safety of traffic. However, on that way we still meet many bureaucratic problems.

THE FUTURE BELONGS TO YOUTH

Young radio engineers and the designers, who came 4-5 years ago from different Russian technical universities, have made a bulk part of the work. 'Tikhomirov's NIIP' employs approximately 400 people under age 30. 30-40 young employees were involved in AESA development directly, and when need, they even stayed overnight like in war time…

There are young persons everywhere: on the stands, on assembling and control line… However the general director is not satisfied and think that the number of young employees is not enough. He decide to build a new housing quarter for the young specialists families.

At the MAKS -2009 air show, 'Tikhomirov NIIP' will demonstrate also an L- range AESA. It's intended for installation into the leading-edge slats of the fighter's wing. It is also made with use of the contemporary domestic hybrid integral technologies and provides electronic scanning in wide sector of angles in horizontal axis. In addition it has broadband capability. Like the X-band radar, this L-band radar was assembled in NIIP with help of unique laboratory equipment, which includes the last word of contemporary technology: radar anechoic chamber".
My notes:
There are two AESA programs in Russia with independent technologic basis and competitive design teams. These are 'Fazotron-NIIR' with its Zhuk-AE AESA project and 'Tikhomirov's NIIP', who develops PAK FA AESA radar. So the competition between them seems to be very fierce with good price outcome for buyers however.
It's not clear whether NIIP uses on its first AESA its unique mechanical gimbals for additional turning. It could drastically improve the angle of survey, which cannot be higher than 70 grad on a regular AESA. Let's wait to pictures from MAKS-2009.

Defunct Humanity: Tikhomirov's NIIP AESA radar for PAK FA

 

[venom]

In depth info regarding wing tip AESA RADARS

Assessing the Tikhomirov NIIP L-Band Active Electronically Steered Array

http://www.ausairpower.net/APA-Flanker-Radars.html#mozTocId533477

 

[venom]

Worlda Aesa Radars In Detail

Defunct Humanity: AESA radars for fighters. Brief review.

 

[Daredevil]

Phased Array Radars
The key to improving radar capability lay in electronic steering of the radar beam a technique that first began to be employed in ground based anti missile radars in the 1970s. Such radars employ a group of antennas in which the relative phases of the respective signals feeding the antennas are varied in such a way that the effective radiation pattern of the array is reinforced in a desired direction and suppressed in undesired directions. Such radars are referred to as phased array radars, since they employ an array of antennas that work using a shift in the signal phase.

By the early 1980s the technology had been mastered to an extent where it could be employed in airborne radars.

Electronic steering and shaping of a beam provides unprecedented beam agility - beam shape and direction can be digitally controlled by a computer within a matter of tens of milliseconds. Such beam agility makes it possible for one phased array radar to act as multiple radars each with its own beam shape and scan pattern! This is referred to as interleaving radar modes. The same radar can be tracking for airborne threats using one beam shape and scan pattern while searching for ground targets using another beam shape and scan pattern.

The Russian NIIP N-011M Bars radar fitted on the Su-30MKI and the NIIP Bars-29 radar proposed to be fitted on the MiG-29M2 being offered to the IAF are examples of phased array radars. The B-1B Bone has flown since the 1980s with an AN/APQ-164 radar, fitted with an electronically steered array. The B-1A Batwing also exploits this technology in its AN/APQ-181 multimode attack radar.

Phased array radars also referred to as passive array radars, represent a big leap forwards. Using beam steering they provide stealth, interleaving modes and reliability. However, the shift in phase of the radar signal comes at a cost. High-power phase control leads to losses in the signal and a consequent reduction in radar sensitivity. Typical total losses in early systems resulted in a factor of 10 reductions in radiated power; in modern systems these losses are still in the factor of 5 ranges.

AESA
An Active Electronically Steered Array (AESA) takes the concept of using an array antenna a step further. Instead of shifting the phase of signals from a single high power transmitter AESA employs a grid of hundreds of small "transmitter-receiver (TR)" modules that are linked together by high-speed processors.

Each TR module has its own transmitter, receiver, processing power, and a small spikelike radiator antenna on top. The TR module can be programmed to act as a transmitter, receiver, or radar. The TR modules in the AESA system can all work together to create a powerful radar, but they can do different tasks in parallel, with some operating together as a radar warning receiver, others operating together as a jammer, and the rest operating as a radar. TR modules can be reassigned to any role, with output power or receiver sensitivity of any one of the "subsystems" defined by such temporary associations proportional to the number of modules.

AESA provides 10-30 times more net radar capability plus significant advantages in the areas of range resolution, countermeasure resistance and flexibility. In addition, it supports high reliability / low maintenance goals, which translate into lower lifecycle costs. Since the power supplies, final power amplification and input receive amplification, are distributed, MTBF is significantly higher, 10-100 times, than that of a passive ESA or mechanical array. This results in higher system readiness and significant savings in terms of life cycle cost of a weapon system, especially a fighter.

The use of multiple TR modules also means failure of up to 10% of the TR modules in an AESA will not cause the loss of the antenna function, but merely degrade its performance. From a reliability and support perspective, this graceful degradation effect is invaluable. A radar which has lost several TR modules can continue to be operated until scheduled downtime is organized to swap the antenna.

Technological Leap
AESA technology has not been easy to acquire. It has come from years of research and heavy investments. Improvement of gallium arsenide material and the development of monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) have been key enablers to the development of AESA technology.

Two prominent early programs in X-band AESA technology development have been the Army family-of-radars program (which provided the basis for the X-band AESAs in the THAAD and GBR radars for theater and national missile defense systems, respectively), and the Air Force programs to produce X-band AESAs for the F-15 and the F-22. The investments in JSF radar technology have also fostered pivotal advances in reducing cost, weight, and mechanical complexity. JSF transmit/receive (T/R) modules are referred to as "fourth generation" T/R module technology.

As can be expected, the technology comes at a cost. Each TR module is an independent radar. Initial cost of a TR module was reportedly around $2000. Fighter radars are usually in the 1000 to 2000 modules size range. In other words just the radar antenna could cost as much as $4 million.

Active Electronically Steered Array (AESA) Airborne Radar

 

[Daredevil]

AN/APG-77 Radar on F-22

The AN/APG-77 radar is the F-22's primary sensor and is a long-range, rapid-scan, and multi-functional system. A Northrop Grumman-led joint venture with Raytheon is developing the active-element electronically scanned array radar. Northrop Grumman is also responsible for the radar sensor design, software, and systems integration.

The AN/APG-77 radar is an active-element, electronically scanned (that is, it does not move) array that features a separate transmitter and receiver for each of the antenna's several thousand, finger-sized radiating elements. Most of the mechanical parts common to other radars have been eliminated, thus making the radar more reliable. This type of antenna, which is integrated both physically and electromagnetically with the airframe, provides the frequency agility, low radar cross-section, and wide bandwidth necessary to support the F-22's air dominance mission. The radar is key to the F-22's integrated avionics and sensor capabilities. It will provide pilots with detailed information about multiple threats before the adversary's radar ever detects the F-22.

The AN/APG-77 radar a novel type of electronically scanned phased array. In what is likely to be the most advanced airborne radar in the world, individual transmit and receive modules are located behind each element of the radar array. The transmit function of the solid-state microwave modules supplants the traveling wave tubes used in prior radars like the APQ-164. The active, electronically scanned array (ESA) configuration has a wider transmit bandwidth while requiring significantly less volume and prime power. The system represents about half the weight of an equivalent passive ESA design. Each of the hundreds of individual solid-state devices generates only small amounts of power, but the aggregate for the entire array is substantial.

The F-22 s APG-77 electronically scanned array antenna is composed of several thousand transmit/receive modules, circulators, radiators and manifolds assembled into subarrays and then integrated into a complete array. The baseline design used thousands of hand-soldered flex circuit interconnects to make the numerous radio frequency, digital, and direct current connections between the components and manifolds that make up the subarray. Northrop Grumman Corporation, of Baltimore, MD, has developed an improved manufacturing process for F-22 aircraft radar components. The new process could result in a cost avoidance of nearly $87 million on the planned production run for the aircraft. By replacing the hand-soldered flex circuit interconnects with automated ribbon bond interconnects, the first pass yield of the subarray assembly has been vastly improved.

The AN/APG-77 radar antenna is a elliptical, active electronically scanned antenna array of 2000 transmitter/receive modules which provides agility, low radar cross section and wide bandwidth. The radar is able to sweep 120 degrees of airspace instantaneously. In comparison to the F-15 Strike Eagle's APG-70 radar takes 14 seconds to scan that amount of airspace. The APG-77 is capable of performing this feat by electronically forming multiple radar beams to rapidly search the airspace.

The system exhibits a very low radar cross section, supporting the F-22's stealthy design. Reliability of the all-solid-state system is expected to be substantially better than the already highly reliable F-16 radar, with MTBF predicted at more than 450 hours.

The APG-77 radar offers significant advantages over previous combat radars. Among its most attractive benefits is the integration of agile beam steering. This feature allows a single APG-77 radar to carry out multiple functions, such as searching, tracking, and engaging targets simultaneously. Agile beam steering also enables the radar to concurrently search multiple portions of airspace, while allowing continued tracking of priority targets.

The Low Probability of Intercept (LPI) capability of the radar defeats conventional RWR/ESM systems. The AN/APG-77 radar is capable of performing an active radar search on RWR/ESM equipped fighter aircraft without the target knowing he is being illuminated. Unlike conventional radars which emit high energy pulses in a narrow frequency band, the AN/APG-77 emits low energy pulses over a wide frequency band using a technique called spread spectrum transmission. When multiple echoes are returned, the radar's signal processor combines the signals. The amount of energy reflected back to the target is about the same as a conventional radar, but because each LPI pulse has considerably less amount of energy and may not fit normal modulation patterns, the target will have a difficult time detecting the F-22.

The F-22 and its APG-77 radar will also be able to employ better Non-Cooperative Target Recognition (NCTR). This is accomplished by forming fine beams and by generating a high resolution image of the target by using Inverse Synthetic Aperture radar (ISAR) processing. ISAR uses Doppler shifts caused by rotational changes in the targets position to create a 3D map of the target. The target provides the Doppler shift and not the aircraft illuminating the target. SAR is when the aircraft provides the Doppler shift. The pilot can compare the target with an actual picture radar image stored in the F-22's data base.

The Air Force expects to take delivery of the first aircraft with a new radar in November 2006 but the software needed to provide the robust ground attack capability will not be completed until 2010. According to a representative of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E), the key to achieving a more robust ground attack capability will center on the integration of this new radar. A December 2005 report issued by the Defense Contract Management Agency stated that problems encountered during the test and integration of the new radar has added risk to the development program. Until software and integration testing in the F-22A have been successfully completed, we consider the design unstable creating the potential for significant cost overruns and schedule delays.

F-22 Avionics