Article Posted on : - Jan 28, 2010

The Scalable Agile Beam Radar fitted in F-16 fighter aircraft. A Northrop Grumman Photo

MARYLAND, US (BNS): The Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) system, fitted in the US Air Force’s F-16 fighter, has been successfully tested recently.

The radar, developed by Northrop Grumman Corporation, was tested in support of a US Air Force F-16 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) feasibility study, the company said.

“This demonstration validated our goal of developing an AESA that can be easily installed on the flight line and integrated with existing power and cooling provisions of currently fielded F-16s,” Arlene Camp, director of Advanced F-16 Radar Programs at Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector, said.

“With regard to installed performance, SABR's air-to-air and air-to-ground detection and tracking and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mapping performance met or exceeded our predictions,” Camp said.

The SABR is a full performance fire control Active Electronically Scanned Array radar. It acts as an active electronically scanned multi-function array.

Designed to support next generation weapons and tactics, the SABR ensures the needed combat advantage over the adversary. While designed initially to fit the F-16 fighters with no structural, power or cooling modifications, the SABR can also be integrated in other legacy fighter, attack, and training aircraft.

In terms of combat capability, SABR provides improved situational awareness, greater detection, high-resolution SAR maps, interleaved air-to-air and air-to-surface mode operations, and an all-environment precision strike capability.