Northrop reveals lightweight radar plan for Lockheed's
F-16
By Stephen Trimble
Northrop Grumman is designing a new active array radar for the
Lockheed Martin F-16, as the company seeks to defend its suddenly
vulnerable monopoly on the fighter's main sensor equipment.
Northrop currently supplies the mechanically scanned APG-68 and the
APG-80 agile beam radar for US and foreign F-16 customers, but its
four-decade-old lock on the market has recently come under
attack.
In July, Raytheon disclosed plans to offer a scaled-down
version of the APG-79 active electronically scanned array, with the
so-called Raytheon Next Generation Radar aimed at the single-engine
fighter market, including the F-16, Korea Aerospace
Industries/Lockheed T/A-50 and Saab Gripen (Flight International,
24-40 July).
Northrop will not leave Raytheon's advance unchecked, and is
designing a lightweight, thin-array system to replace the APG-68's
mechanically scanned arrays, says James Pitts, president of its
electronic systems sector.
Pitts says the F-16 retrofit package is being designed to require
no "group-A", or structural or wiring, modifications to the
aircraft. The upgraded radar will include its own liquid-cooling
heat exchanger that fits within the available space, he adds.
Lockheed officials have previously confirmed that they
expect the US Air Force to eventually upgrade the F-16 radar to the
AESA standard, and welcome a budding competition between Northrop
and Raytheon. Pitts also foresees the USAF as a potential customer,
but views the export market as the most likely source of a launch
order.
DATE:05/11/07
SOURCE:Flight International
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2007/11/05/219028/northrop-reveals-lightweight-radar-plan-for-lockheeds.html
