Chris Pocock has been covering the defense beat for AIN for over 30&nbsp;years. He is a British citizen and a graduate of the University of Cambridge. Chris worked in the air cargo business for ten years before becoming a full-time writer in 1983. He subsequently edited two air cargo journals before becoming AIN’s Defense Editor. He retired from that position in 2018, but still contributes to the publication. Chris has written extensively on aerial reconnaissance, including four books on the history of the U-2 spyplane. He also lectures on this and other topics related to intelligence-gathering in the Cold War.

Defense Correspondent

Chris Pocock

The four partner nations in the Eurofighter Typhoon program have finally signed industrial contracts to produce an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar for the combat jet. A ceremony was held Wednesday at the Edinburgh, UK facility of Selex-ES, one of the key companies that is developing the Captor E-Scan system. The Typhoon is the last of the fourth-generation fighters to be re-equipped with an AESA, and program officials are hoping that the move will boost the type’s flagging export prospects. Together with the industrial partners in the Euroradar consortium, Eurofighter has been <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/farnborough-air-show/2014-07-16/eurofighter-lifts-veil-e-scan-radar">pre-funding Captor E-Scan</a> development since <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/defense/2008-10-15/industry-pushes-e-scan-radar-eurofighter">2008</a>.

 


Eurofighter chief executive officer Alberto Gutierrez said that the contract (which is worth $1.25 billion) represents a massive boost for the project, and is “something that Europe should be immensely proud of.” AVM Graham Farnell, for the four-nation Eurofighter management agency NETMA, said that “the Typhoon lies at the heart of NATO airpower and will continue to do so for many decades to come. This new capability will ensure that the fighter remains a vital component in the mix.”

 


The new radar can be back-fitted to all Tranche 2 and Trache 3 versions.

 


Unlike other AESAs which are all "fixed-plate," the Captor E-Scan antenna can tilt, or "reposition," to provide a wide field of regard of 200 degrees. Together with the large antenna size and power available to the sensor, this confers greater capability than rival systems, according to Eurofighter. These include “earlier target detection and greater utility across the EW spectrum”—meaning electronic attack, which has already been the subject of some development work that was funded exclusively by the UK.

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