Active electronically scanned array: Difference between revisions

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[[File:ILA Berlin 2012 PD 193-2.JPG|thumb|The [[Eurofighter Typhoon]] combat aircraft with its nose fairing removed, revealing its [[Euroradar CAPTOR]] AESA radar antenna]]

An '''active electronically scanned array''' ('''AESA''') is a type of [[phased array]] antenna, which is a computer-controlled [[antenna array]] in which the beam of radio waves can be electronically steered to point in different directions without moving the antenna.<ref>{{Citation |title=The Insane Engineering of the F-35B | date=28 January 2023 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lCOgFPtaZ4 |access-date=2024-02-16 |language=en}}</ref> In the AESA, each antenna element is connected to a small solid-state transmit/receive module (TRM) under the control of a computer, which performs the functions of a [[transmitter]] and/or [[receiver (radio)|receiver]] for the antenna. This contrasts with a [[passive electronically scanned array]] (PESA), in which all the antenna elements are connected to a single transmitter and/or receiver through [[phase shifter]]s under the control of the computer. AESA's main use is in [[radar]], and these are known as active phased-array radar (APAR).

The AESA is a more advanced, sophisticated, second-generation of the original PESA phased-array technology. PESAs can only emit a single beam of radio waves at a single frequency at a time. The PESA must utilize a [[Butler matrix]] if multiple beams are required. The AESA can radiate multiple beams of radio waves at multiple frequencies simultaneously. AESA radars can spread their signal emissions across a wider range of frequencies, which makes them more difficult to detect over [[Radio noise|background noise]], allowing ships and aircraft to radiate powerful radar signals while still remaining stealthy, as well as being more resistant to jamming. Hybrids of AESA and PESA can also be found, consisting of subarrays that individually resemble PESAs, where each subarray has its own [[RF front end]]. Using a hybrid approach, the benefits of AESA (e.g., multiple independent beams) can be realized at a lower cost compared to pure AESA.

The first ground-based, ship-based and airborne AESA radars became operational in the mid 1990s.<ref name="radar" /><ref name="aviationweek.com" />

==History==

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* The first airborne series production AESA was the [[EL/M-2075]] Phalcon on a [[Boeing 707]] of the [[Chilean Air Force]] that entered service in 1994.

* The first AESA on a combat aircraft was the [[J/APG-1]] introduced on the [[Mitsubishi F-2]] in 1995.<ref name="aviationweek.com">{{cite web|url=http://aviationweek.com/awin/japan-upgrading-60-f-2s-aam-4-japg-2|title=Japan Upgrading 60 F-2s With AAM-4, J/APG-2|access-date=17 June 2015}}</ref>

* The first AESA on a missile is the seeker head for the [[AAM-4|AAM-4B]], an [[air-to-air missile]] carried by the Mitsubishi F-2 and Mitsubishi-built [[Mitsubishi F-15J|McDonnell-Douglas F-15J]].<ref name="aviationweek.com"/>

US based manufacturers of the AESA radars used in the F-22 and Super Hornet include Northrop Grumman<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irconnect.com/noc/press/pages/news_releases.html?d=116105|title=Northrop Grumman Successfully Completes F-22 Radar Flight-Test Certification (NYSE:NOC)|access-date=17 June 2015|archive-date=8 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208023846/http://www.irconnect.com/noc/press/pages/news_releases.html?d=116105|url-status=dead}}</ref> and Raytheon.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.raytheon.com/products/aesa/|title=Raytheon|author=Raytheon Corporate Communications|access-date=17 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080707032431/http://www.raytheon.com/products/aesa/|archive-date=2008-07-07|url-status=dead}}</ref> These companies also design, develop and manufacture the transmit/receive modules which comprise the 'building blocks' of an AESA radar. The requisite electronics technology was developed in-house via Department of Defense research programs such as [[Monolithic microwave integrated circuit|MMIC]] Program.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.csmantech.org/Digests/2003/2003PDF/1-2.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926193553/http://www.csmantech.org/Digests/2003/2003PDF/1-2.pdf|url-status=dead|title=A DARPA Perspective on the Future of Electronics<!-- Bot generated title -->|archive-date=26 September 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ll.mit.edu/news/journal/pdf/vol12_no2/12_2devphasedarray.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2007-08-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926193552/http://www.ll.mit.edu/news/journal/pdf/vol12_no2/12_2devphasedarray.pdf |archive-date=2007-09-26 }}</ref> In 2016 the Congress funded a military industry competition to produce new radars for two dozen National Guard fighter aircraft.<ref>Albon, Courtney. “Concerned about Industrial Base: Senate Appropriators Call For Broader F-16 AESA Radar Upgrade.” ''Inside the Air Force'', vol. 26, no. 23, Inside Washington Publishers, 2015, pp. 3–3, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24803921. JSTOR website] Retrieved 13 March 2022.</ref>

==Basic concept==

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Jamming is likewise much more difficult against an AESA. Traditionally, jammers have operated by determining the operating frequency of the radar and then broadcasting a signal on it to confuse the receiver as to which is the "real" pulse and which is the jammer's. This technique works as long as the radar system cannot easily change its operating frequency. When the transmitters were based on klystron tubes this was generally true, and radars, especially airborne ones, had only a few frequencies to choose among. A jammer could listen to those possible frequencies and select the one to be used to jam.

Most radars using modern electronics are capable of changing their operating frequency with every pulse. This can make jamming less effective; although it is possible to send out broadband white noise to conduct [[barrage jamming]] against all the possible frequencies, this reduces the amount of jammer energy in any one frequency. An AESA has the additional capability of spreading its frequencies acrossemitting a widesingle band even in a singlebroad-spectrum pulse, a technique known ascalled a "[[chirp". In this case]], thewhich jammingis willmore bedifficult the same frequency as the radar for only a short period, while the rest of the radar pulse isto unjammedjam.

AESAs can also be switched to a receive-only mode, and use these powerful jamming signals to track its source, something that required a separate receiver in older platforms. By integrating received signals from the targets' own radar along with a lower rate of data from its own broadcasts, a detection system with a precise RWR like an AESA can generate more data with less energy. Some receive beamforming-capable systems, usually ground-based, may even discard a transmitter entirely.

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** FULMAR, for the maritime aircraft and helicopters.

* [[Euroradar CAPTOR|Captor-E]] CAESAR (CAPTOR Active Electronically Scanning Array Radar) for the [[Eurofighter Typhoon]]

* [[Defence Research and Development Organisation]] (DRDO)

** [[DRDO AEW&CS|DRDO LSTAR]] – Radar for Airborne Early-Warning platform

** [[Uttam AESA]] – [[Gallium arsenide|Gallium Arsenide]] (GaAs) based multifunction radar for India's combat aircraft [[HAL Tejas]]

** [[Uttam AESA Radar#Virupaaksha|Virupaaksha]] multifunction– an advanced variant of [[Uttam AESA Radar|Uttam AESA]] radar forbased on [[SukhoiGallium Su-30MKInitride|Su-30MKIGallium Nitride]], an(GaN). advanceTo variantbe ofused in [[Uttamair AESAsuperiority Radar|Uttamfighter]] AESA[[Sukhoi Su-30MKI|Su-30MKI]]

* [[Elta Systems]]

** [[EL/M-2083]] [[aerostat]]-mounted air search radar

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** [[AN/APG-79]], for the [[F/A-18E/F Super Hornet]] and [[EA-18G Growler]]

** [[APG-63 and APG-70#AN/APG-82(V)1|AN/APG-82(V)1]] for the [[F-15E Strike Eagle]] & [[Boeing F-15EX Eagle II|F-15EX Eagle II]]

** [[AN/APG-84 RACR]] (Raytheon Advanced Combat Radar) for F-16 and F/A-18 upgrades.

** [[AN/APQ-181]] upgrade from [[passive electronically scanned array|PESA]] to AESA, for [[Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit]] bomber

** [[AN/APS-154]] [[Advanced Airborne Sensor|AAS]] (Advanced Airborne Sensor), AESA follow-on to [[Littoral Surveillance Radar System|LSRS]] (Littoral Surveillance Radar System), [[APS-149|AN/APS-149]]. Also for the [[Boeing P-8 Poseidon]]

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===Surface systems (land, maritime)===

The first AESA radar employed on an operational warship was the Japanese [[OPS-24]] manufactured by [[Mitsubishi Electric]] introduced on the JDS ''Hamagiri'' (DD-155), the first ship of the latter batch of the [[Asagiri-class destroyer|''Asagiri''-class destroyer]], launched in 1988.

* [[Active Phased Array Radar|APAR]] (active phased-array radar): Thales Netherlands' multifunction radar is the primary sensor of the Royal Netherlands Navy's [[De Zeven Provinciën class frigate|''De Zeven Provinciën ''-class]] frigates, the German Navy's [[Sachsen class frigate|''Sachsen ''-class]] frigates, and the Royal Danish Navy's [[Ivar Huitfeldt class frigate|''Ivar Huitfeldt ''-class]] frigates. [[Active Phased Array Radar|APAR]] is the first active electronically scanned array multifunction radar employed on an operational warship.<ref name="Janes NI">Jane's Navy International, August 2010, "Expanding coverage from sea to sky"</ref>

* [[Aselsan]]

** AKREP, for marine platforms

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** [[COBRA (radar)|COBRA]] Counter-battery radar

* [[CEA Technologies]]

** [[CEAFAR]] a 4th generation, S-Band multifunction digital active phased-array radar, installed on all RANof ANZACthe [[Royal Australian Navy]]'s [[Anzac class frigatesfrigate]]s, [[HMAS Choules]], and the future [[Hunter-class frigate]]s.

* China

** Road-mobile "Anti-Stealth" JY-26 "Skywatch-U" 3-D long-range air surveillance radar.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.defensenews.com/article/20141122/DEFREG03/311220016/China-s-Anti-Stealth-Radar-Comes-Fruition |archive-url=https://archive.today/20141124002410/http://www.defensenews.com/article/20141122/DEFREG03/311220016/China-s-Anti-Stealth-Radar-Comes-Fruition |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 November 2014 |title=China's Anti-Stealth Radar Comes to Fruition |last1=MINNICK |first1=WENDELL |date=22 November 2014 |website=www.defensenews.com |publisher=Gannett |access-date=25 November 2014 }}</ref>

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** H/LJG-346A on [[Type 052D destroyer#Sensor|Type 052D destroyer]]

** H/LJG-346B on [[Type 055 destroyer]]

** [[HQ-9#Type 305A radar|Type 305A Radar]]{{Broken anchor|date=2025-05-10|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=HQ-9#Type 305A radar|reason= The anchor (Type 305A radar) [[Special:Diff/1059840239|has been deleted]].|diff_id=1059840239}} (Acquisition radar for the [[HQ-9|HQ-9 missile]] system)<ref>http://www.ausairpower.net/APA-HQ-9-12-Battery-Radars.html HQ-9 and HQ-12 SAM system battery radars</ref>

** [[YLC-2 Radar]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ausairpower.net/APA-PLA-IADS-Radars.html|title=PLA Air Defence Radars|author=John C Wise|date=13 January 2009|pages=1|access-date=17 June 2015}}</ref>

* [[Defence Research and Development Organisation]] (DRDO)

** [[Ashwini LLTR Radar]] – 4D AESA radar (used by Indian Air Force).<ref>Low Level Transportable Radar (LLTR) - Ashwini https://www.drdo.gov.in/sites/default/files/inline-files/lltr.pdf</ref>

** [[Arudhra Radar]] – Multi function AESA radar (used by Indian Air Force).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.drdo.gov.in/drdo/labs/LRDE/English/index.jsp?pg=achieve.jsp|title=DRDO Radar List|website=drdo.gov.in|access-date=25 July 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140723095010/http://drdo.gov.in/drdo/labs/LRDE/English/index.jsp?pg=achieve.jsp|archive-date=23 July 2014}}</ref>

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** [[EL/M-2133]] ''WindGuard'' – ''Trophy'' active protection system radar

* [[Hensoldt]]

** [[TRML-4D]]<ref name=trml-4d-product>{{cite web | url=https://www.hensoldt.net/products/radar-iff-and-datalink/trml-4d/ | title=TRML-4D - Multi-Functional Air Surveillance and Target Acquisition Radar System &#124; HENSOLDT | access-date=2022-05-17 | archive-date=2024-05-06 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240506170432/https://www.hensoldt.net/products/radar-iff-and-datalink/trml-4d/ | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=armyrecognition-trml-4d>{{cite web | url=https://www.armyrecognition.com/defense_news_may_2021_global_security_army_industry/hensoldt_presenting_trml-_4d_multi-function_air_surveillance_and_target_acquisition_radar.html | title=Hensoldt presenting TRML- 4D multi-function air surveillance and target acquisition radar &#124; Defense News May 2021 Global Security army industry &#124; Defense Security global news industry army year 2021 &#124; Archive News year | access-date=2022-05-17 | archive-date=2022-05-26 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526011606/https://www.armyrecognition.com/defense_news_may_2021_global_security_army_industry/hensoldt_presenting_trml-_4d_multi-function_air_surveillance_and_target_acquisition_radar.html | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=armada-trml-4d>{{cite web | url=https://www.armadainternational.com/2018/06/hensoldt-presents-new-ground-based-air-defence-radar/ | title=HENSOLDT presents new ground-based Air Defence Radar | date=19 June 2018 }}</ref>

** [[TRML#TRS-4D|TRS-4D]]

* [[Larsen & Toubro]]

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[[Category:Phased array radar]]

[[Category:Phased arrays]]

[[Category:Radar]]