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Leonardo VIXEN 500E AESA Chosen for Romanian IAR-99 SOIM

Project based on modified Romanian Air Force IAR-99 SOIM

 

Leonardo’s VIXEN 500E AESA radar has been procured by the National Institute for Aerospace Research “Elie Carafoli” (INCAS), Romania’s leading aerospace research and development (R&D) establishment, for its new trainer technology demonstrator programme IAR-99 TD. The project is based on a Romanian Air Force IAR-99 SOIM (prototype no. 7003), which will be modified by INCAS together with aircraft manufacturer Avioane Craiova.

Leonardo has worked with INCAS previously, providing its SEASPRAY 5000E AESA surveillance radar for INCAS’s special mission BN-2 ISLANDER aircraft. This is currently being used for scientific and environmental monitoring missions. It is hoped that the sale of the VIXEN 500E could lead in future to Romania’s fleet of IAR-99s being retrofitted with the new radar as part of a wider upgrade programme.

This partnership with INCAS is representative of Leonardo’s open and collaborative approach to meeting the demands of the market,” Norman Bone, Managing Director of Leonardo’s Airborne and Space Systems division, said.”By working together, we are able to better understand, and provide the best solution for, the needs of the Romanian MOD. Looking to the future, following further work on the IAR-99 Technology Demonstrator, we see further commercial potential outside of Romania and are looking forward to working with INCAS to address this.”

It is a dedicated development program towards a new generation trainer we develop at INCAS, as a follow-up on the current IAR-99 SOIM in service for the Romanian MoD,” Dr. Catalin Nae, General Manager of INCAS, continued. “IAR-99 TD is a technological demonstrator to fully test and further develop new technologies for advanced trainer, with enhanced sensing and combat capabilities. The VIXEN 500E radar system will bring the capability that we consider critical with respect to the operational environment for our future trainer.”

The contract with INCAS follows Leonardo’s recent provision of the same VIXEN 500E radar to the US Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS) in Patuxent River, Maryland, where students will use the radar while training on-board the school’s C-26 aircraft. Previously, Leonardo has also sold the VIXEN 500E to the US Department of Homeland Security.

 

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Publish date

08/30/2017

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