Radar - Specs & Discussions

uddu · Post by **uddu** » 31 Aug 2008 20:31

Historical news
India made radars blamed for LTTE air raid
Link

A leading pro-government Sri Lankan newspaper has blamed Indian-made radars for the non-detection of the LTTE aircraft which bombarded the Air Force's main base at Katunayake, north of Colombo on Monday.

"Initial investigations revealed that the first generation radar installed by India failed to detect the incoming aircraft until the radar at the adjacent Bandranaike International Airport identified them," said The Island daily's defence correspondent Shamindra Ferdinando, in a front page lead story on Wednesday.

The report said that the Indian radars with the Sri Lankan Air Force had operational problems and presumably were not functioning at the time of the attack.

But apparently, the Indians have blamed the Sri Lankan Air Force staff for the failure, and said that maintenance had been poor.

The equipment had also been kept shut on Sunday. The air raid had taken place very early on Monday at 12.45 am.

The Island report said that by the time the international civil airport picked up the intruders on its radar, it was too late, because the invaders were just 3 kms from the airbase then.

"Had the SLAF radar spotted the intruders, the outcome of Monday's encounter would have been different," the paper quoted an un-named official as saying.

The Island said that the issue of the non-functioning of the Indian radars was taken up with the Indian High Commission in Colombo on Monday itself.

When Chandrika Kumaratunga was President, she had wanted to buy the more advanced 3D radars from China.

But the then Indian High Commissioner, Nirupama Rao, had intervened and said that India had security considerations, and therefore India would supply radars for Colombo's defence, the paper said.

And Kumaratunga had no option but to agree.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa would seek a meeting with Nirupama Rao's successor, Alok Prasad, in this regard, the paper said.

"The unprecedented attack (on the airbase) has prompted the government to review the existing counter measures on a priority basis," it added.

Latest news
The abortive air raid of the LTTE
Link

The Indra-II radars located in Vavuniya first detected the take off of two aircraft of the LTTE from a location from Mullaitivu, on Tuesday at 8.45 p.m. The message has been first conveyed to the officer in charge of the Air Defence System to alert the relevant authorities about this suspicious air movement.

With the sudden detection of the take off of the two Tiger aircraft the SLAF identified that they were moving towards the South along the coastal belt.

As it was obvious that the direction of the two aircraft was towards Trincomalee, the Colombo Air Force operation room gave a signal to Trincomalee to be alert on the situation.

As a precautionary measure instructions were given to switch off the lights in Trincomalee and to cut off communications systems in Trincomalee.

By this time the Sri Lanka Air Forces and the Sri Lanka Navy were ready with their Air Defence System and anti aircraft guns.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 31 Aug 2008 21:49

Whats the idea of posting a 1 1/2 year old article?

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 31 Aug 2008 22:10

krishnan wrote:Whats the idea of posting a 1 1/2 year old article?

Prolly he wanted to prove a point that it didnt worked then , and today it did

JaiS · Post by **JaiS** » 23 Sep 2008 03:34

A promotional video about Northrup Grumman's SABR radar for F-16 upgrades.

Thanks to DEW Line.

Kartik · Post by **Kartik** » 26 Sep 2008 20:17

I have a question regarding that came up when I read Prasun Sengupta's writeup on the MiG-29K's next batches for the IN. according to him, the next batch of the MiG-29K will be upgraded with a newer radar, either the Bars-29 or the Zhuk-AE.

Now my question is why did the IAF not consider the PESA Bars-29 for its MiG-29 upgrade in place of the Zhuk-ME slotted array radar? was it not ready at the time when the upgrade was being finalised? Has this radar actually flown since the time this article below by PiBu was written?

JANE'S DEFENCE WEEKLY - FEBRUARY 02, 2005

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Russia reveals lightweight version of NO11M Bars radar
Piotr Butowski JDW Correspondent
Gdansk

Russian radar design bureau Tikhomirov NIIP will present for the first time a lightweight version of its N011M Bars radar at Aero India 2005 in Bangalore, 9-13 February.

The mock-up, designated Bars-29, is being marketed for new versions of the MiG-29 multirole fighter aircraft.

Bars-29, with electronic scanning, is designed for MiG-29M2 (multi-role combat aircraft, MRCA), which are being offered for India's requirement for 126 lightweight multirole fighters, as well as for mid-life upgrades of about 50 MiG-29s currently in service with the Indian Air Force (IAF). NIIP officials said that the Bars-29 radar "has all possible interfaces" and can be installed on other fighters including the Dassault Aviation Mirage 2000, which is also taking part in the tender.

During initial negotiations, India requested that the MiG-29's radar be compatible with the N011M Bars radar installed in the larger Su-30MKI fighter aircraft it already has in service.

The IAF has 32 Su-30MKIs and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd is launching licensed production. This compatibility would reduce operation cost due to standardisation of ground testing and training facilities, crew flight training, radar servicing, and delivery of spare parts.

Tamerlan Bekirbayev, chief designer of the Bars radar, told JDW that two variants of Bars-29 are being considered. The first will retain most of the components of N011M Bars. The new antenna has a 60 cm diameter and weighs 50kg -60 kg, about half the weight of the original, which has a 96 cm diameter.

Two other new subassemblies of the Bars-29 will be a super high-frequency receiver and driving oscillator made using the same technology as N011M Bars. The overall weight of the Bars-29 radar will be 350 kg-400 kg, about 100 kg less than the N011M Bars.

Other more ambitious variants of the Bars-29 radar will have new equipment modules made with more recent technology; in this case, the radar weight may be reduced to 250 kg-300 kg.

Bekirbayev said that Bars-29 could be ready within three years.

"We will take maximum advantage of operational algorithms and software that has already been made for Bars. This is the most time consuming part of work on [a] new radar," he said. Some 90 per cent of Bars-29's software will be copied from Bars.

Until recently, RSK MiG Corporation developed new versions of the MiG-29 fitted with slotted-array Zhuk-ME radar, an export variant of the Zhuk-M, made by NIIP's competitors, the Phazotron-NIIR design bureau. The Zhuk-ME is fitted to prototypes of MiG-29M2 MRCA and MiG-29K fighters as well as to the MiG-29SMT manufactured for Yemen and Eritrea.

On 20 January 2004, India bought the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier from Russia and ordered 16 MiG-29K/KUB shipborne fighters, with an option for 30 more to be delivered in 2007-08. According to the contract, the MiG-29K will be equipped with Zhuk-ME radars and there are no plans for installing Bars-29 on these aircraft.

maitya · Post by **maitya** » 26 Sep 2008 20:35

Kartik wrote:Now my question is why did the IAF not consider the PESA Bars-29 for its MiG-29 upgrade in place of the Zhuk-ME slotted array radar? was it not ready at the time when the upgrade was being finalised?

The Bars has their own limitation on the azimuth scan angle - and the newer electromechanical (hydraulic actuator) system was (is???) still under development. I think it was not providing a significant benefit compared the weight penalty it imposes over a comparable slotted array.

AE is a different beast of course - but, IIRC, is still not fully developed and flight tested.

FWIW of course ...

A Sharma · Post by **A Sharma** » 02 Oct 2008 03:15

From Sainik Samachar

Three Dimensional ‘Rohini’

Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), a Defence Public Sector Undertaking, handed over the first of the 3-dimensional radars, Rohini, to the Indian Air Force. Mr VVR Sastry, Chairman and Managing Director, BEL handed over a ceremonial key to the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major at a function held at BEL unit in Ghaziabad marking its induction into the IAF.
The state-of-the-art Multifunction Medium Range Surveillance Radar has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation's (DRDO) Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE), Bangalore and engineered and produced by BEL. It is capable of handling multiple targets simultaneously and also precisely calculating the height at which the projectiles are flying. Mounted on Tatra mobile platform, a heavy duty modified truck built by the public sector Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), and supported by an auxiliary mobile power unit, Rohini may be easily transported to the battlefront.
Speaking on the occasion, the chief guest Air Chief Marshal Fali Major said the radar would grant the IAF better air surveillance capability, particularly at low altitudes. Operating in a range of upto 170 kilometres and an altitude of 15 kilometres, the radar can track multiple targets like fighter jets and missiles travelling at supersonic speeds of over 3,000 kms per hour, viz around Mach 3. The radar employs an array of Electronic Counter Counter Measure (ECCM) features including frequency agility and jammer analysis. A Secondary Surveillance Radar, IFF, is integrated with the primary radar Rohini which distinguishes between friendly and hostile aircraft.
Handing over the radar, Mr Sastry said he expected around 100 pieces would be built, with around 20 radars being manufactured every year. He said the Army has conducted successful trials of a Rohini variant for detecting and tracking missiles. Another variant, Revathi, is being developed for the Navy, he added. Mr Sastry assured the forces that the BEL has surplus capacity to undertake serialised production and its manufacturing facilities were being currently utilised only to an extent of 70 per cent. For the first time, the IAF has also awarded an Annual Maintenance Contract for the Rohini radars to the BEL.
Mr M Natarajan, Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister and Secretary, Defence R&D, said the Rohini radar is a shining example of the defence-industry synergies, the new age objective of the DRDO. Private sector pioneers Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Astra Microwave have collaborated with the BEL and DRDO to provide ancillary inputs to the development of the Rohini radar, which is almost indigenously developed barring minor critical components. Mr S. Varadarajan, Director, LRDE said changes would be incorporated into the radar time to time based on end-user feedback.
Rohini meets all the requirements to effectively play the role of a medium range surveillance radar mounted on a mobile platform. The radar operates in S-band and is capable of Track-While-Scan [TWS] of airborne targets, subject to line-of-sight clearance and radar horizon. The system comprises of a coherent TWT based transmitter, a planner array antenna with low side-lobes, digital receiver, signal processing, data processing and a versatile display system mounted on a mobile platform. The radar employs multiple beams for elevation coverage in the receive mode to provide necessary discrimination in elevation data.
To get an optimum detection performance against various class of targets, two antenna rotation rates of 7.5 and 15 RPM selectable by the operator are incorporated. The system operation is fully automated and controlled from a Radar Console with sufficient menus, keys and hot keys. It is also supported by a tracker ball/mouse. It has a dedicated and exhaustive on-line BITE facility capable of testing the total system up from the RF receiver to data processor and display in addition to routine monitoring of subsystems. The radar has a separate mobile operator's cabin. This cabin, with two Display consoles and R/T sets, enables prolonged operation with ease.

Rupesh · Post by **Rupesh** » 03 Oct 2008 18:24

IAF Inducts 3-D Medium-range Surveillance Radar, Rohini

Scientists of Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE)have been working
very hard on 3-D Surveillance Radar which finally paid off. Shri M Natarajan,Scientific Adviser to Raksha Mantri and Shri VVR Sastry, CMD,Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) handed over the first 3-D Medium-range Surveillance Radar, Rohini, on 06 August 2008 to Air Chief Marshal FH
Major, PVSM, AVSM, SC, VM, ADC in an impeccably organised ceremony at Hyderabad. The Air Chief stated, ‘the Air Force is immensely satisfied with the radar. We have carried out extensive trials and it has met all our requirements. It has scope for further exploitation,
which our scientists and Air Force team would sit down and consider’. It is a glorious tribute to the outstanding achievements of developing a world class radar by DRDO in association with industry partner BEL. SA to RM stated that Rohini radar realisation model was a shining example of the DRDO-Industry synergy.

Rohini is a new version of the 3-D Medium-range Surveillance Radar developed as central acquisition radar of Akash weapon system for the Air Force. The radar is intended to be a surveillance sensor at air bases covering air space up to 150 km in range and 15 km in height over 360° azimuth, tracking multiple airborne targets like fighter aircraft, missiles, etc. The radar employs cutting-edge technologies like digital receiver, programmable signal processor, and indigenous planar multi-beam antenna.The radar can withstand offensive electromagnetic
spectrum and serves effectively as a surveillance radar and provides awareness about air space situation. Variants of this radar have been developed for the Navy (Revathi) and the Army (3-D TCR), and their user trials are under progress.

http://www.drdo.com/pub/nl/2008/oct08.pdf

JaiS · Post by **JaiS** » 14 Oct 2008 04:10

RBE-2 AESA Revealed

VinodTK · Post by **VinodTK** » 06 Nov 2008 07:19

Astra sees big bucks in offset clause

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 11 Nov 2008 22:50

India developing new-gen radars.

India is developing new generation radars with multi-function capability that can be integrated with any weapon system, a Defence Research and Development Organisation official said on Tuesday.

Electronics & Radar Development Establishment (LRDE), a DRDO lab, has initiated development of medium power radar and a 150 km low level transportable radar with such capabilities, including surveillance, interceptive guidance, raid assessment, target ac quisition, close tracking and potential ones like fire control, LRDE Director S Varadarajan said.

For example, Rajendra radar that LRDE developed is tied-up or “totally married'' with surface-to-air-missile Akash but the new radars being developed with hardware, configuration and power level that are highly programmable.

“Our ultimate mission is to extend it for multiple missions and multiple functions'', Varadarajan told reporters here. “The radars that we are making will be a little-more broadbased. It can be integrated with any weapon system''.

“Once these radars are put into the inventory of users, depending on the software configuration, they can be made to work in different environment'', he said. LRDE is also developing a synthetic aperture radar which would be capable of generating images of targets.

“SAR will be capable of measuring the target up to a metre of accuracy''. Varadarajan also said LRDE has initiated development of active electronics scanning array radar for airborne applications. These radars are intended to be integrated with Tejas Light Combat Aircraft-Mark II (?) in 2012-13.

“An active electronics scanning array radar in a fighter aircraft is one of the key elements to managing weapon systems, giving enhanced surveillance and fire power'', he said.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 12 Nov 2008 20:41

New radars to come up
DH News Service, Bangalore:
A leading Bangalore-based Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratory has initiated the development of new generation radars with multi-function capability that can be integrated with any weapon system.

The lab, Electronics & Radar Development Establishment (LRDE) has started developing a medium power radar and a 150 km low level transportable radar. The radar will have capabilities such as surveillance, interceptive guidance, raid assessment, target acquisition, close tracking and potential ones like fire control, LRDE Director S Varadarajan told presspersons here on Tuesday.

The Rajendra radar that LRDE developed is tied-up or “totally married” with surface-to-air-missile Akash but the new radars being developed with hardware, configuration and power level that are highly programmable, he said.

Varadarajan said LRDE’s ultimate mission was to extend it for multiple missions and multiple functions. The new radars would be a little-more broadbased. It can be integrated with any weapon system, he added.

He informed that once these radars were put into the inventory of users, depending on the software configuration, they could be made to work in different environments.

Besides, LRDE is also developing a Synthetic Aperture Radar capable of generating images of targets. The SAR will be capable of measuring the target up to a metre of accuracy, according to Varadarajan.

LRDE, he said, had initiated development of active electronics scanning array radar for airborne applications. These radars are intended to be integrated with Tejas Light Combat Aircraft-Mark II in 2012-13. An active electronics scanning array radar in a fighter aircraft is one of the key elements to managing weapon systems, giving enhanced surveillance and fire power, the director said.

same news from DH, BLR. Its a good sign, that LRDE is taking up rather HAL doing the MMR, as it is now.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 12 Nov 2008 22:52

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_44d3OT-xI3U/S ... AESA-2.jpg

what is the glassy finish (photoshop?) on the t/r modules external surface, see that .. between the two men. Also there is a submerged photo joins on the sections where the visible t/r modules are supposed to be clearly inserted or fixed up on the radar antenna panel.
?

K Mehta · Post by **K Mehta** » 13 Nov 2008 12:16

IAF for high modernisation

Rohini radar

On the three-dimensional radar ‘Rohini’ developed by a public sector undertaking, the Air Chief said “the multifunction medium range surveillance radar Rohini is functioning very well and we have already placed an order for 30 more radars over the four to five years span. We are pleased with the indigenous equipment with its functions”

maz · Post by **maz** » 13 Nov 2008 12:23

Don't know if you guys have any of the material in the link http://reflect08.drdo.in/LRDE%20S%20S%2 ... Radars.pdf?

Excerpts: Phased Array Radars which have Electronically Scanned Array Antenna.
DRDO has visualized these developments and started the development of Phased Array radars since beginning of 1983. The various Phased Array Radars developed by DRDO during last 2-3 decades are:
• VAJRA, an X Band Passive Phased Array Radar
• RAJENDRA, a C-Band Battery Level Passive Phased Array Radar for AKASH Weapon system of IGMDP
• Weapon Locating Radar (WLR), a C-Band Phased Array Radar: Variant of RAJENDRA
• Multifunction Fire Control Radar (MFCR), an S-Band Semi Distributed Rotating Active Phased Array Radar for AD Program
• Long Range Tracking Radar (LRTR), an L-Band Fully distributed Active Aperture Phased Array Radar for AD Program
RAJENDRA and WLR have successfully been evaluated by the user namely Air Force and Army respectively. These two are under Production and will be part of our services in the coming couple of years.
The Digital Beam Forming (DBF) for Phased Array is another Area which enhances the capability of Phased Array Radars. DRDO is working on this area in the S-Band Rotating Electronically Scanned Array Radar (RESAR).

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 12 Jan 2009 22:00

DARE’s indoor antenna range facility

Express News Service
First Published : 12 Jan 2009 03:47:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 12 Jan 2009 12:47:02 PM IST

BANGALORE: The Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE), a laboratory of DRDO based in Bangalore has developed an indoor antenna test range facility to characterise both the electronic support measure (ESM) and electronic counter measure (ECM) antennas, a facility which is the first of its kind in India.

This facility covers a wide range for pattern characterisation with a unique capability to measure direction and finding accuracy too.

It is also capable of characterising antennas for radiation patterns, beam peak, beam with width and directivity.

The facility receives and transmits electronic warning antenna signals, similar to sun rays and is named ‘Udayakiran.’ A few days ago this lab had been successful in indigenously upgrading the avionics system for MiG 27 aircraft.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 13 Jan 2009 17:06

AWST in a Dec .1st issue had a feature on the latest Russian Phazatron Zhuk AESA radars which have been coated with RAM to enhance the stealth features of the aircraft.The aircraft will include the MIG-29K being produced for the IN as well as for the MIG-35 a contender fot he MMRCA contest.Plamsa fields within the radome to sheild the antenna are also areas of Russian research.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 27 Jan 2009 21:22

what technology would go for bird detecting radar.. how about mil applications?

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holn ... 270951.htm

Kartik · Post by **Kartik** » 27 Jan 2009 21:36

Philip wrote:AWST in a Dec .1st issue had a feature on the latest Russian Phazatron Zhuk AESA radars which have been coated with RAM to enhance the stealth features of the aircraft.The aircraft will include the MIG-29K being produced for the IN as well as for the MIG-35 a contender fot he MMRCA contest.Plamsa fields within the radome to sheild the antenna are also areas of Russian research.

indeed, its some good news for us regarding reduction of the MiG-29K's RCS. on the MiG-29K's Zhuk, the RAM coatings were applied on pretty much everything except for the antenna. there is no frequency selective radome on it as yet. some other innovative methods being looked at include angling the antenna at 90deg, so that the reflectivity is reduced to a minimum at least from a head-on perspective. then BAe is looking at tiny roller mounted RAM shields to line the inside of the radome so that the antenna can be shielded when not in use..

meanwhile, the F-18E/F SH already features frequency selective radome technology.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 27 Jan 2009 22:14

Kartik wrote:BAe is looking at tiny roller mounted RAM shields to line the inside of the radome so that the antenna can be shielded when not in use..

meanwhile, the F-18E/F SH already features frequency selective radome technology.

wow! that is a simple wonderful solution... straight away can be done for any type of aircraft radome.. but has its disadvantage though.. when active, it takes time to roll down.. may be they have something that just flips in a second like camera shutter. failures can be bad.

on the freq selective radome, radars to handle different bandwidths could have different patches for various freq t/rs?

JaiS · Post by **JaiS** » 03 Feb 2009 02:57

Taking AESA Radar Abroad

Excerpts posted below

As the competition grows among U.S. firms like Raytheon and Northrop Grumman to sell active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars for fighter jets, Europe's Selex Galileo is quietly carving out a market for slimmed-down versions of AESA radar for maritime patrol aircraft, helicopters and UAVs.

Mason said Selex Galileo aims to create a Seaspray family of products.

"We have test flown a Seaspray 5000, which has a different array and is aimed at small helicopters," he said.

For UAVs, Selex Galileo is pitching its Picosar AESA radar, which has been sold to two unnamed European customers for research purposes. Mason said Selex aims to sell the Picosar this year for use on a tactical UAV, such as Selex's own Falco.

Another Selex AESA product is the Vixen fire control radar for light fighter jets, which has been test-flown and is being marketed to users of the F-5 and the Hawk. Talks to sell the Vixen for the A-50, a light attack version of the T-50 trainer jet developed by South Korea's KAI and Lockheed Martin, have stalled because of U.S. clearances required.

All three radar types - the Seaspray, Picosar and Vixen - use a common transmit and receive module (TRM) measuring 100mm by 15mm by 5mm. Twenty are placed on the Picosar, 250 on the Seaspray and 500 on the Vixen, all using the industry standard material, gallium arsenide.

Industry researchers have been drawn to the benefits of a rival substance, gallium nitride, but Mason said cost currently rules out its use.

"There are up to 1,500 TRMs on a fighter, so cost is paramount," he said. "Gallium arsenide is widespread in civilian applications like mobile phones, so we benefit from that, while gallium nitride's use in the commercial market is still uncertain."

Selex Galileo also is partnering with EADS on developing an AESA radar, known as CAESAR, for the as-yet-unsigned-for third tranche of the Eurofighter Typhoon. The partners in the four-nation Eurofighter consortium - Britain, Spain, Italy and Germany - want to cut back on spending on the fighter, but know they need an AESA radar if they want to export the combat jet and recoup their investment.

nash · Post by **nash** » 04 Feb 2009 10:19

i have one question to the experts of this thread.

what is the difference between pulse doppler radar, pesa rada and aesa radar?

Baljeet · Post by **Baljeet** » 06 Feb 2009 02:06

I have a suggestion for you, """"""""""""google them!!!!!!!

gashish · Post by **gashish** » 06 Feb 2009 03:07

JaiS wrote:Taking AESA Radar Abroad

Gallium arsenide is widespread in civilian applications like mobile phones, so we benefit from that, while gallium nitride's use in the commercial market is still uncertain."

GaN market is less than $100 million today and is mostly driven by defence applications. Stringent requirements of 4G WiMax/LTE base-stations might ramp-up the demand in commercial arena in near future though. Designing circuits with GaN is not tough, but manufacturing them is, and that is India's Achilles heel.
Only handful of companies (US and Japanese) can manufacture GaN transistors today. There are not many commercial foundries even for mature technology like GaAs.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 12 Feb 2009 01:29

Raytheon offers airborne radar for India's homeland security.

Bangalore: With India going into overdrive to secure its coastline in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, US defence major Raytheon is positioning its airborne standoff radar (ASTOR) as the ideal solution for the country's homeland security.

"This may be something of interest to India. There's a lot of opportunity here," Mike Henchey, Raytheon's Vice President for space and airborne systems, said.

Pointing to the success achieved by the British defence ministry in operating the system, Henchey, who is here for Aero India-2009 that opened today, said he hoped to discuss its benefits with Indian officials during the five-day international air show.

The ASTOR system, Raytheon says, provides a highly effective 24-hour surveillance and target acquisition capability. It delivers wide area, all weather surveillance and reconnaissance imagery in near real time for peacekeeping, war fighting and homeland security needs.

Raytheon, which has had a presence in India for the past 60 years, views India's new policy for procuring military hardware as an opportunity for building long term partnerships that would benefit the country economically and industrially.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 17 Feb 2009 01:03

Zhuk-AE info board from aroor's blog.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_o_no4M2xEPY/S ... 773847.JPG

JaiS · Post by **JaiS** » 17 Feb 2009 02:45

Sharper Eyes For India's MiGs

Guskov said that Phazotron is already working on the next modification of its slot array radars, the Zhuk M2E. This version will have a faster processor, allowing it to classify targets by type (for instance, fighters, bombers and helicopters) and to break-out formation targets flying at 20-30 meters apart. The radar can also be programmed to identify aircraft by type – in the case of a new type, it can record its reflected signal and later use it for identification.

The Zhuk M2E should start flight testing this year. The modernized radar will equip 62 Indian Air Force MiG-29s that MiG is modifying to the MiG-29UPG configuration under contract to the IAF. MiG design bureau chief designer Vladimir Barkovsky said here that the first six aircraft have already been shipped to Russia. The Indian Air Force is expected to receive its first MiG-29UPG in 2010.

jaladipc · Post by **jaladipc** » 18 Feb 2009 23:34

While the Indian version of AEWACS is almost done and getting readied to be fixed on Embrarer.
Why DRDO is not developing a parallel project for Fighters?

We have the AESA tech for our LRTR and AEWACS
We can use the same T/R module of AEWACS/LRTR`s primary radar and only miniaturization is needed .
If we have/had put the same effort on developing a fighter based AESA instead of MMR our tejas would be flying with Indian-AESA by now

narmad · Post by **narmad** » 18 Feb 2009 23:38

jaladipc

Basic Points to ponder
.> only miniaturization is needed
.> Speed of the awac and fighter

jaladipc · Post by **jaladipc** » 18 Feb 2009 23:50

narmad wrote:jaladipc

Basic Points to ponder
.> only miniaturization is needed
.> Speed of the awac and fighter

Most of the algorithms are same for both fighter aircraft and AEWAC.As both rely on same T/R module

merlin · Post by **merlin** » 19 Feb 2009 08:36

jaladipc wrote:
narmad wrote:jaladipc

Basic Points to ponder
.> only miniaturization is needed
.> Speed of the awac and fighter
Most of the algorithms are same for both fighter aircraft and AEWAC.As both rely on same T/R module

AEW&C's T/R will operate in the S band, while for a fighter it needs to be in X band. How are they same?

aditp · Post by **aditp** » 19 Feb 2009 09:55

AEW&C's T/R will operate in the S band, while for a fighter it needs to be in X band. How are they same?

He said algorithms...that means the software logic used for analyzing information by decoding the radar reflections received by the receiver in the T/R modules. S-band / X band / other band do not cause too much diff as the same are hardware functions.

k prasad · Post by **k prasad** » 19 Feb 2009 12:45

aditp wrote:
AEW&C's T/R will operate in the S band, while for a fighter it needs to be in X band. How are they same?
He said algorithms...that means the software logic used for analyzing information by decoding the radar reflections received by the receiver in the T/R modules. S-band / X band / other band do not cause too much diff as the same are hardware functions.

An AEW&Cs is (very) basically an airborne version of a ground based radar - due to the fact that it is a primary sensor (and indeed, the raison d'etree) of the aircraft, the weight issues are less important.

However, a fighter AESA is a completely different beast - not only is the size much much smaller, but you need to churn out excellent combat performance through more modes, larger stresses and flight envelope. The change from S to X band also means that the hardware is totally different.... AEW AESA tech will help to an extent, but the important and time consuming parts are the most critical, such as X-band TRMs, smaller Signal processors, etc.

JaiS · Post by **JaiS** » 20 Feb 2009 04:17

AESA And Typhoon

Everyone buying fighters wants an active electronically scanned array (AESA) these days, no doubt after reading Dave "Mr AESA" Fulghum on the subject.

But Eurofighter remains wary about the issue. The consortium's executives still stay that - for today - the mechanically scanned (M-Scan) Selex Captor beats any in-service AESA for the Typhoon's mission, even though Selex itself is ready to go with its Vixen range of AESA radars. A clue as to why they think that way emerged at the Aero-India seminar last week.

Discussing future technologies, Dr, Peter Gutsmiedl, senior vp engineering at EADS Military Air Systems, pointed out ways in which AESA could be integrated into Typhoon - one being the conventional fixed, canted antenna. They included an antenna with auxiliary side arrays, an azimuth gimbal and the so-called "swashplate" radar, a canted antenna on a rotating mount.

What's behind this thinking? A few years ago, Prof. John Roulston - former technical director at BAE Systems' radar division, now part of Selex - presented a paper in which he pointed out a limitation of AESA: at extreme scan angles the effective aperture decreases, and the performance of the radar (range, sensitivity and jamming resistance) declines as a result. So today's M-Scan has a larger field of regard than a fixed AESA, and better performance at the edge of the scan envelope.

This is important for Typhoon because the whole system - in the air-to-air regime - is influenced by air-combat simulations in which a fighter-to-fighter engagement could involve multiple MRAAM shots, followed by a supersonic turn to evade the adversary's fire and extend the F-pole - the distance between the launch aircraft and the target at impact. To do this, it's essential to have a radar that can continue to track the target and guide the missile as the shooter turns away.

The gimbal of a pointable AESA does not have to be anything like as fast as an M-Scan gimbal. The high-speed stuff, tracking a moving target, is still done electronically, with the gimbal moving relatively slowly to optimize the field of view.

Moreover, the electronic field of view is now added to the gimbal scan: the swashplate design shown here adds the 60-degree AESA limit to its 45-degree cant angle, to cover 105 degrees in all directions - a total 210-degree field around the nose.

By the way, the designers of the Su-35 think the same way, and the F-22 has space, weight and cooling provision for side arrays, but so far they have been deferred due to budget cuts.

k prasad · Post by **k prasad** » 20 Feb 2009 12:37

^^^^ Interesting post Jai.

Yes, I got the same view from teh EF CEOs talk, as also the people at the stall (at least the one I could find, and who ran off after a minute leaving me like.... well, I'll spare you the description). Looks like the French also felt like this before.

Dileep · Post by **Dileep** » 20 Feb 2009 13:31

The AESA/PESA/M-SCAN issue is discussed to death on these pages. Look up the archives.

The hurdle in moving from an (S band) AEW radar to an (X band) Fighter radar is the hardware. The software drivers practically remains the same. Of course the user interface will be different too.

At the time when I was actively tracking those, the guys at LRDE and RCI were working on X Band modules. Some photos of MMIC substrates were available. Looking at the AEW array work timescale, I would hazard a guess that we might see a working array in 2010-11.

k prasad · Post by **k prasad** » 20 Feb 2009 14:49

Dileep wrote: At the time when I was actively tracking those, the guys at LRDE and RCI were working on X Band modules. Some photos of MMIC substrates were available. Looking at the AEW array work timescale, I would hazard a guess that we might see a working array in 2010-11.

Brilliant deduction Dileep - Spot on - In fact, LRDE is looking at the AESA within 3.5 years, ie, by 2011-12.

Cain Marko · Post by **Cain Marko** » 21 Feb 2009 05:20

This is important for Typhoon because the whole system - in the air-to-air regime - is influenced by air-combat simulations in which a fighter-to-fighter engagement could involve multiple MRAAM shots, followed by a supersonic turn to evade the adversary's fire and extend the F-pole - the distance between the launch aircraft and the target at impact. To do this, it's essential to have a radar that can continue to track the target and guide the missile as the shooter turns away.

Precisely why the evil yindoo-roosies came up with the hybrid Bars - mech+pesa. Nifty thinking really. Ditto with the Irbis.

CM.

ajay_ijn · Post by **ajay_ijn** » 22 Feb 2009 11:30

This is important for Typhoon because the whole system - in the air-to-air regime - is influenced by air-combat simulations in which a fighter-to-fighter engagement could involve multiple MRAAM shots, followed by a supersonic turn to evade the adversary's fire and extend the F-pole - the distance between the launch aircraft and the target at impact. To do this, it's essential to have a radar that can continue to track the target and guide the missile as the shooter turns away.

how about another typhoon or AWACS providing mid-course updates to multiple MRAAMs launched. that way launch aircrafts radar need not necessarily track the target. i heard AMRAAM can be guided this way.

X-posting.
IAF Picks Thales ground master 400 Radar

vasu_ray · Post by **vasu_ray** » 22 Feb 2009 13:45

Can Rafale's SPECTRA kind of system work for larger AEW kind of platforms? and helicopters?