The advent of the active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar has not only dramatically improved the traditional capabilities of the radar, but has also opened the door to a new world of capabilities. Here at Paris Air Show this week, Raytheon–which builds AESA radars for the F-15 Eagle and F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters–and its partner L-3 Communications are highlighting the capability of using the AESA system to send large image files around the network in near real time.
Thanks to AESA, today’s state-of-the-art fighter can produce high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery from considerable stand-off distances, greatly aiding the targeting process. While such maps can be used onboard the aircraft, the challenge until now has been in sharing that information and imagery. At worst, the crew can describe targets over the radio, while the adoption of Link 16 has allowed the passage of information between platforms, but is very limited in its data flow.
