[pchunter]

E que tal mais este upgrade.

Raytheon discute venda de radar AESA com dois países operadores de F-16

A Raytheon informou nesta segunda-feira, 9 de novembro, que está se aproximando da primeira venda internacional do RACR (Raytheon Advanced Combat Radar – Radar de Combate Avançado da Raytheon), após receber a aprovação para avançar nas discussões técnicas com dois clientes potenciais. Trata-se de dois países que pretendem modernizar suas frotas de F-16 nos próximos dois anos (os nomes não foram revelados).

O programa RACR, que foi projetado para todos os F-16 e está aprovado para exportações, vem sendo desenvolvido dentro do prazo, segundo a empresa. O primeiro voo de um F-16, equipado com um exemplar de hardware de produção do RACR, está programado para a primeira metade de 2010.

O programa já teria demonstrado várias das capacidades do radar nos modos ar-ar e ar-terra assim como sua integração com o display central dos F-16, produzido pela Raytheon. Trata-se de uma nova tela colorida que permite ao piloto conduzir operações simultâneas, com uma visão geral aprimorada da arena de combate.

Ainda segundo a empresa, o RACR tem 90% de comunalidade, em hardware e software, com o radar AESA que equipa os F/A-18 Super Hornet (AN/APG-79), um sistema já em operação com diversos esquadrões da US Navy (Marinha dos EUA) e no qual a Real Força Aérea Australiana (RAAF – Royal Australian Air Force) está treinando.

No ano passado, a empresa já instalou o RACR duas vezes em aeronaves F-16, na Lockheed Martin e na Base Aérea de Edwards (da USAF – Força Aérea dos EUA), demonstrando a facilidade de instalação do equipamento em modernizações dos caças do tipo, graças ao design modular. A Lockheed Martin e a Raytheon têm trabalhado em conjunto nos últimos seis anos para desenvolver o RACR para os F-16.

http://www.aereo.jor.br/2009/11/10/raytheon-discute-radar-aesa-com-dois-usuarios-internacionais-de-f-16/

[dc]

Boas
Quais são os dois paises?
Fazendo as contas (2010+2 anos=2012)somos nós um desses paises.

[luis simoes]

De facto esperava uma vossa opiniao á possivel substituicao dos nossos f-16 certo que ainda andarao por ca muitos anos é esta a minha conviccao, mas se pudermos numa hipotetica compra futura, sem sombra de duvida optaria  pelo eurofighter ou  f-18 super hornet....um abraco.
Aguardo comentarios...

[dc]

Boas
Eu na minha opinião acho que lá para 2020 os F-16 MLU deveriam ser substiuidos por F-35 ou se não for possivel devido a custos o F-16 Block 70.

Cumps

[raphael]

eu na minha opinião deviam substituir as frotas mais antigas...porque pensar em substituir uma frota que ainda consegue 100% de operacionalidade...enfim... isto não é só jactos monolugares (e alguns bilugares)...lol não podemos todos gostar do mesmo!

[Lightning]

ou se não for possivel devido a custos o F-16 Block 70.

Isso existe?

[sergio21699]

ou se não for possivel devido a custos o F-16 Block 70.

Isso existe?

Se não me engano são os que foram oferecidos à India também chamado de  F-16IN Super Viper
  http://www.lockheedmartin.com/products/f16/f16in/index.html

[Lightning]

ou se não for possivel devido a custos o F-16 Block 70.

Isso existe?

Se não me engano são os que foram oferecidos à India também chamado de  F-16IN Super Viper
  http://www.lockheedmartin.com/products/f16/f16in/index.html

Ah está bem, mas então essa aeronave também só vai existir se alguém (India) o comprar em grandes numeros, senão não estou a ver os Americanos a esperar ate 2020 para vender uns 20 a nós.

[Cabeça de Martelo]

Sou apenas eu, ou mais pessoas no fórum preferiam que a FAP vira-se para outros fornecedores sem ser os Norte-Americanos?

O F-35 já deu para ver que tem que fazer tudo e mais alguma coisa e no final não vai ser capaz de fazer nada muito bem.

[sergio21699]

Se fizerem o upgrade MLU em todos os F16 já é muito bom

[nelson38899]

Se fizerem o upgrade MLU em todos os F16 já é muito bom

se tudo correr bem iremos ter cerca de 40 MLU M4/M5 em 2012

[sergio21699]

Se fizerem o upgrade MLU em todos os F16 já é muito bom

se tudo correr bem iremos ter cerca de 40 MLU M4/M5 em 2012

e Deus queira que corra...

[Instrutor]

Na minha opinião penso que de deveriamos optar pelo eurofigther cerca de 40 unidades la para o ano 2020 firmar a encomenda para os recebermos em 2025 .

[Smoke Trails]

Em Outubro de 2009 o site Aviationweek.com noticiava o interesse da Coreia do Sul num radar AESA para o F-16.

South Korea is planning to retrofit an active, electronically scanned array radar to its fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16s, sparking a competition liable to be repeated for a swath of Fighting Falcon operators.

The South Korean air force will likely issue a request for proposals in 2010 or early 2011 for an active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radar for its F 16C/D aircraft. The air force has around 40 Block 32 aircraft and 140 Block 52-standard aircraft.

South Korea is believed to be looking to upgrade 135 aircraft, most likely all at the Block 52 standard. Under present plans, upgraded aircraft will enter service in 2014-15.

Seoul’s pending competition could also pose some challenges for the U.S. administration in terms of technology release. Raytheon has already been cleared to offer its RACR (Raytheon Advanced Combat Radar) AESA, while Northrop Grumman is still awaiting U.S. approval for its Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR). The South Korean air force has already had a classified briefing on Raytheon’s RACR.

South Korean technology access aspirations may also go unfulfilled, at least initially, if either the Raytheon or Northrop Grumman radar is selected.

Replacing the F-16’s mechanically scanned array radar with an AESA will provide not only performance but reliability and maintenance improvements. Radar performance is at least doubled, while reliability is improved by an order of magnitude. The latter has significant through-life cost implications when compared with the maintenance bill for supporting conventional radar.

Seoul’s program is running on about the same time scale as a similar U.S. Air Force requirement for retrofitting its F-16s with an AESA. South Korea, however, is expected to keep pushing ahead independently, since grafting the local program on to the U.S. effort could delay deployment by up to two years.

Either country could make the first selection between Northrop Grumman’s SABR, which is a derivative of the APG 80 in the F-16E/F, and the Raytheon RACR, which has been developed from the APG-79 fitted to the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.

The total F-16 market for AESA technology may exceed 1,000 units. Along with South Korea, Greece has also had a classified briefing on the RACR as it considers a similar upgrade for its F-16 fleet, and many other air forces will likely follow as the aircraft’s life is extended. Industry executives suggest an overall contract value in the billions of dollars.

One non-U.S. manufacturer doubts that anyone but Raytheon and Northrop Grumman has much chance of getting the South Korean contract.

Washington is likely to try to keep foreign competitors out by using its diplomatic clout and its contract rights to control the F-16 configuration, says an official from that company, who adds that they will bid anyway.

U.S. government restrictions on technology transfer may also frustrate South Korean ambitions to advance its own know-how from the F-16 upgrade, which also includes cockpit improvements.

“For an AESA radar, the technology transfer will be very limited,” says Arlene Camp, Northrop Grumman’s director of F-16 radar programs. But experience from earlier projects suggests that the U.S. will become progressively less restrictive, she adds.

“As time evolves, I am sure there would be more [technology] available for transfer at the end of the program than at the beginning.”

South Korean defense electronics supplier LIG Nex 1 hopes to participate in the program. The company has designed an AESA concept radar but its executives acknowledge that it does not have the technical experience to develop that concept into a system that could be installed in the F-16 in any reasonable time scale.

Northrop Grumman is targeting the F-16 market in South Korea but thinks it might also have a chance to fit the radar to Korean Aerospace Industries’ TA-50 and FA-50, even though the Elta EL/M-2032 has already been chosen for that aircraft. “There is a desire for commonality in the South Korean air force,” says Camp.

The antenna and back end of the SABR can be scaled to fit aircraft smaller and larger than the F-16. Northrop Grumman says it has developed the SABR with an eye on both the U.S. and export markets.

Designed specifically for retrofitting, it can be installed with less space, power and cooling than the APG-80 needs, says the manufacturer.

Like the RACR, it has been installed in a Block 50 F-16 to confirm physical compatibility. Flight tests should be complete by the end of the year, Northrop Grumman says.

The Block 50 was chosen for the testing because that model is the most challenging: The extra equipment added to successive versions of the F-16 has left the Block 50 with the least resources remaining for a retrofitted radar.

Raytheon will begin flight testing a production standard RACR on an F-16 in the first half of 2010.

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/ ... el=defense

[Smoke Trails]

SABR (Scalable Agile Beam Radar – Radar de Feixe Ágil Adaptável)

February 19, 2008 (by Asif Shamim) – Northrop Grumman Corporation unveiled a new company funded program to develop an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) at the Singapore Air Show.

The Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) will be a full performance fire control derived from proven AESA technology. The new radar is being designed for retrofit to existing F-16 aircraft and can be scaled to fit other platforms and mission areas.

"SABR is the most recent development in a long line of Northrop Grumman AESA airborne fire control radars," said Chris Sheppard, F-16 Sensor Systems Program Development manager. "SABR will offer all the advantages of an active electronically scanned multi-function array, more than just a radar, but at a lower price than AESA fire control radars now available."

"We look forward to supporting the F-16 aircraft worldwide for at least 30 more years, and SABR is our investment towards maintaining the F-16's combat capability. SABR leverages investment in technologies derived from AESAs produced for the U.S. Air Force and our international partners," said Sheppard.

Northrop Grumman is designing SABR to accommodate the F-16 electrical and physical interfaces without modification to the aircraft. It will fit within currently defined power and cooling requirements and support the existing pilot-vehicle interface. Although currently being designed for F-16, the array is scalable and adaptable to other platforms and missions.

The new radar will provide the increased multi-function performance inherent to AESA technology: improved situational awareness and detection, high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and interleaved air-to-air and air-to-ground modes provide pilots true all-weather, day or night precision strike capability. SABR demonstration flights are planned for later this year on Northrop Grumman's Sabreliner, which emulates the F-16 avionics suite and has been used for previous F-16 radar testing.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a $32 billion global defense and technology company with 120,000 employees worldwide.

Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.

http://www.f-16.net/news_article2748.html