USAF wants competition for F-15E Strike Eagle radar upgrade

The US Air Force has decided to make Raytheon compete against Northrop Grumman for a contract to upgrade the Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle’s radar with an active electronically scanned array (AESA).

Raytheon has already integrated its APG-63(V)2 AESA system on 18 F-15Cs stationed in Alaska and saw an upgraded APG-63(V)3/4 version using a tile array and a new processor as a natural candidate for the F-15E fleet. But the USAF has decided the order should be decided by a competition, says Darryl Davis, Boeing’s vice-president of global strike.

Raytheon’s AESA will face competition from Northrop’s APG-77 system installed on the USAF’s Lockheed Martin/Boeing F/A-22 Raptors. Although it is compatible with the F-15, Northrop needs to study the integration requirements for the Strike Eagle, says business development director Scott Porter.

Upgrading the F-15E fleet is part of a broader, high-level debate about the future of the USAF’s fighter inventory, but senior USAF officials have publicly expressed interest in a concept to upgrade up to 150 aircraft with AESA radars.

The Air National Guard plans to upgrade 48 F-15Cs with the APG-63 radar over the next six years.

DATE:20/09/05
SOURCE:Flight International

Will that allow the F-15E's to see and shoot from further away? better resolution?

While I'm sure that it's able to pick up smaller (more stealthy) targets one of the big advantages of phased arrays over dishes is in speed of sweeps.

Quoted: While I'm sure that it's able to pick up smaller (more stealthy) targets one of the big advantages of phased arrays over dishes is in speed of sweeps.

Yeah, and it can also focus large amounts of energy into one small area.



This should be a good upgrade to our F15 fleet.

Quoted: While I'm sure that it's able to pick up smaller (more stealthy) targets one of the big advantages of phased arrays over dishes is in speed of sweeps.

That's true, especially during high-G movement. You want to go this way, but the dish's inertia wants to go that way so you have a heavier radar mount/actuator at the nose.

The F-15Cs up in Alaska also have the AIM-9X, which combined with the V2 radar and the JHMCS (Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System) makes it damn lethal.

The 19th FS from Elmendorf won the William Tell at Tyndall last year.  They smoked the competition.

I'm just excited that my jet finally got a color weather radar.

Quoted: Will that allow the F-15E's to see and shoot from further away? better resolution?

See? Yes...

Shoot? No... That is a function of the AIM-120's maximum range, as the plane can allready see targets well beyond engagement range....

Also, the AIM120 is a command/active radar system (initial guidance is by datalink, terminal guidance is by active homing), so the host aircraft's radar does not affect it's range (a/o the old AIM-7, which depended on picking up the return signal from the launching aircraft inorder to reach it's target)....