Military Technology 07/2020

36 · MT 7-8/2020 Feature radar from the Leonardo ES-05 RAVEN fitted in JAS-39E/Fs. According to the company, the radar is designed primarily for fighter aircraft but can be adapted to a variety of platforms, such as trainers, aggressor aircraft and UAV/UCAVs. In 2019, Saab’s project for a new radar had piqued the interest of the USN Office of Naval Research (ONR), which was scouting for advanced technologies in the radar sector. Saab was awarded an $8.2 million contract, currently in execution, for an initial prototype in 2020. Therefore, the radar unveiled in May seems to be the recently demanded prototype for ONR and the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Foreign Comparative Testing Program. In principle, the final product might also be a fit for a light attack variant of the Saab/Boeing T-7A RED HAWK and would represent a good addition to the T/A-50 GOLDEN EAGLE to replace its mechanically-scanned AN/APG-67. Little has been disclosed about the radar’s specifications, but the company has repeatedly stressed modularity and scalability. The development and testing phase will last for twelve to 18 months, then the radar will be ready for production. Like IAI, Saab is also involved in cooperation with South Korea for the KF-X radar. But according to the company, the transfer of technology to South Korea is a separate programme, with no dependency on current tests. Thales Appears Cautious So far, Thales is the only large European player not to have disclosed specific projects in the field. For light fighters, Thales had proposed a smaller version of RAFALE’s RBE-2AA to equip Indian LCA/TEJAS, but India eventually chose the IAI ELT-2052. At that time, however, Thales declared that a new small-sized radar derived from the RBE-2AA was already operational and ready for trials onboard TEJAS. Today, the com- pany maintains a certain level of secrecy on its offer of small AESA ra- dar. Questioned by MilTech on the subject, the company replied “[…] as European leader in AESA radars, Thales analyses constantly the demands from the market and performs studies that can make its products evolve. However, the offer in Thales’ portfolio cannot be disclosed in detail.” In general, it is reasonable to believe that Thales has the same assessment as Leonardo regarding the market for small fire control radars. Plenty of third-generation aircraft have insufficient power to proficiently supply the ELM-2052 has also been installed on ten BAE HAWK MK.67 belonging to Air USA (with some nose modifications), a US private contractor spe- cialized in military combat readiness training and Dissimilar Air Combat Training (DACT). These are the first AESA radars in service with a private operator! In the field of modernization, IAI aims at third- and fourth-generation fighters as well as at current users of the ELM-2032 version. In the latter case, the ELM-2032 does not necessarily need to be replaced, which means that it can be transformed by replacing the antenna and minor components. IAI’s sales strategy includes a highly effective package of radar, ECM and missiles and the company promises that even modest fighters can deploy an AESA radar with sufficient range and accuracy to steer beyond-visual-range (BVR) missiles such as the I-DERBY family. For instance, the pairing of the ELM-2032/2052 with the EL/L-8222 family of jamming pods is combat proven. The Israeli jamming pod is in service worldwide and is known for its exceptional performance – to the point at which the US uses the pod during DACT exercises. In practice, the pod degrades the enemy’s radar capacity, thus compensating for the small size of the AESA antenna on light fighters. It works as a kind of ‘equalizer,’ putting the light fighter and the more sophisticated fighter in the same arena. For example, this combination has been chosen by India for the latest contract for TEJAS. In South Korea, the TA/FA-50 does not have the pod. However, for the KF-X programme, IAI has proposed an internally installed version to pair with the AESA radar, meaning KF-X can counter more complex radars. In effect, the ELM-2052 seems to be appreciated to the extent that South Korea awarded IAI a $35 million contract to par- ticipate in development of the radar for its KF-X fighter. Precise details have not been revealed, but it is rumoured the contract will include con- sistent technology transfer, including ELM-2052’s algorithms for digital waveforming. Saab Catches Up At the time of writing, Saab has just tested its new X-band AESA radar in flight on a two-seat JAS-39D GRIPEN fighter. The AESA radar can be offered as an upgrade for existing GRIPENs and is a completely different A former Republic of Korea Air Force HAWK MK.67 still carries national markings while in service with Air USA, the first private operator to deploy an AESA radar, an IAI ELM-2052. (Photo: GoodFon)