An undisclosed air force bought Israeli AESA radar - RSAF?
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Flight International reported that an undisclosed air force recently placed a $95 million contract to acquire ELTA EL/M-2052 active electronically scanning array radar.
Given Singapore's record of secretly buying military hardware from Israel - see G550 AEW - I suspect the undisclosed air force might well be the RSAF.
The Israeli air force originally wanted to fit ELTA EL/M-2032 to its new F-16I fighters, which are very similar to the RSAF's new F-16D Block 52s, and the IAF's F-15s and F-16s are ideal candidates for retrofitting the new EL/M-2052 AESA radar.DATE:20/08/07
SOURCE:Flightglobal.com
India's Tejas fighter suffers new setback
By Radhakrishna Rao
India's Tejas light combat aircraft programme has suffered a new setback, with sea-level fight tests using two prototype aircraft having demonstrated lower than expected engine performance during take-off and maximum speed demonstrations.
But in a fresh move intended to steady the troubled programme, New Delhi in mid-August announced a co-operative agreement under which its defence industry will develop the aircraft's multi-mode radar with Israel Aerospace Industries' Elta Systems subsidiary.
Conducted from Arakkonam in India's southern Tamil Nadu state and intended to demonstrate the Aeronautical Development Agency aircraft's performance under dense atmospheric conditions, the recent series of 24 flights revealed that the Tejas was unable to reach its expected maximum speed of Mach 1.05, despite having reached M1.6 at high altitude.
The failure has been attributed to insufficient available thrust from the aircraft's General Electric F404 engine, and underlines India's need to replace the US design with the Kaveri powerplant now under development by its Gas Turbine Research Establishment. In common with the wider Tejas programme, the Kaveri project has been dogged by development delays and cost escalations, which have forced New Delhi to order additional F404s to power its initial production batch of lightweight fighters.
Prototype and demonstrator examples of the Tejas have now flown 725 flights, and the type is due to achieve initial operational capability in late 2010.
Announcing the new radar pact, defence minister A K Antony said India's parliament has approved the co-development agreement with Elta, with Hindustan Aeronautics selected to lead the project. The initiative will replace previous work conducted by the Bangalore-based Electronics and Radar Development Establishment, with technical hitches having prevented a radar design from being integrated with a prototype Tejas.
Antony says the new fire-control radar is needed to support demonstration flights of the fully developed and armed fighter from 2010, and Israeli sources reveal that the sensor will be a further development of Elta's EL/M-2052 active electronically scanned array.
The company is completing development of the design using IAI's Boeing 737 flying testbed, and an undisclosed air force recently placed a $95 million contract to acquire the system. Elta says the AESA design can detect up to 64 targets simultaneously, while it can also provide ground mapping services and be used against maritime threats. -
If it is indeed for RSAF, who will it be for?
i believe our ordered F-15SGs will come with AESA, or is this the AESA thats supposed to go into the eagles?
Seeing as how this radar is more useful for Air Superiority and not so much SEAD, i place my bet on the eagles -
No, most likely to refit the F-16 block 52s. HMmm, that would probably mean it needs to replace with a faster processor as well. hmm.Originally posted by Idle_King:If it is indeed for RSAF, who will it be for?
i believe our ordered F-15SGs will come with AESA, or is this the AESA thats supposed to go into the eagles?
Seeing as how this radar is more useful for Air Superiority and not so much SEAD, i place my bet on the eagles -
The only other nation is China really... but then the Yanks will raise a heckle.
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Not likely to be RSAF, especially after newly acquired APG-63 V3 AESA
Most likely to be Indian Air Force, considering its LCA project now looks for Israelis for FCR. -
The Indian air force's intent to fit the radar on its LCA Tejas is already mentioned in the article, so the IAF cannot be the 'undisclosed' air force.Originally posted by coolant:Not likely to be RSAF, especially after newly acquired APG-63 V3 AESA
Most likely to be Indian Air Force, considering its LCA project now looks for Israelis for FCR.
Cheers,
Sunho -
China air force or Taiwan air force
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PLAAF is out of option, Israelis are not suicidal enough to risk multi billion military aids from US by gaining a mere millions bucks from sales of advanced FCR to China. Those believing Israelis will go ahead may need to re-check how Israelis being banned from US led JSF project.
Israelis wonÂ’t confront China as well by selling sensitive radar to sensitive place like Taiwan, or the next day, they will find their Arabic friends getting more offensive weaponry. Or they will face tough time in UN. -
quote:
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DATE:20/08/07
SOURCE:Flightglobal.com
India's Tejas fighter suffers new setback
By Radhakrishna Rao
India's Tejas light combat aircraft programme has suffered a new setback, with sea-level fight tests using two prototype aircraft having demonstrated lower than expected engine performance during take-off and maximum speed demonstrations.
But in a fresh move intended to steady the troubled programme, New Delhi in mid-August announced a co-operative agreement under which its defence industry will develop the aircraft's multi-mode radar with Israel Aerospace Industries' Elta Systems subsidiary.
Conducted from Arakkonam in India's southern Tamil Nadu state and intended to demonstrate the Aeronautical Development Agency aircraft's performance under dense atmospheric conditions, the recent series of 24 flights revealed that the Tejas was unable to reach its expected maximum speed of Mach 1.05, despite having reached M1.6 at high altitude.
The failure has been attributed to insufficient available thrust from the aircraft's General Electric F404 engine, and underlines India's need to replace the US design with the Kaveri powerplant now under development by its Gas Turbine Research Establishment. In common with the wider Tejas programme, the Kaveri project has been dogged by development delays and cost escalations, which have forced New Delhi to order additional F404s to power its initial production batch of lightweight fighters.
Prototype and demonstrator examples of the Tejas have now flown 725 flights, and the type is due to achieve initial operational capability in late 2010.
Announcing the new radar pact, defence minister A K Antony said India's parliament has approved the co-development agreement with Elta, with Hindustan Aeronautics selected to lead the project. The initiative will replace previous work conducted by the Bangalore-based Electronics and Radar Development Establishment, with technical hitches having prevented a radar design from being integrated with a prototype Tejas.
Antony says the new fire-control radar is needed to support demonstration flights of the fully developed and armed fighter from 2010, and Israeli sources reveal that the sensor will be a further development of Elta's EL/M-2052 active electronically scanned array.
The company is completing development of the design using IAI's Boeing 737 flying testbed, and an undisclosed air force recently placed a $95 million contract to acquire the system. Elta says the AESA design can detect up to 64 targets simultaneously, while it can also provide ground mapping services and be used against maritime threats.
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Maybe it is for RSAF's upgrade of the Fokkers MPA or to be installed in the Fokkers' replacement.
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Originally posted by tankee1981:
I think the secondary/tertiary objective of this radar is Maritime while the primary is Air-to-Air combat not the otherway around...
Maybe it is for RSAF's upgrade of the Fokkers MPA or to be installed in the Fokkers' replacement.
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but speaking of maritime surveillance, should we get zhnged P-3s? or even P-8?
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Venezuela AMX upgrade? possible?
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MLUs for the Blk52+?
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I dun know of any official MLUs available for the 50/52s yet leh. Maybe a self-implemented one? Can be tricky tho.Originally posted by LazerLordz:MLUs for the Blk52+? -
Mars air force.
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Can't rule that out. We do like to zhng our stuff all the time. There are benefits to be the first nation to come out with a package to MLU the Blk52+.Originally posted by Shotgun:I dun know of any official MLUs available for the 50/52s yet leh. Maybe a self-implemented one? Can be tricky tho.
Who knows, it might not actually be self-implemented? -
It would certainly be a good thing to bring all F-16s in the RSAF service to a common standard as the US is doing and Israel is about to do.
Block 52 F-16s introduced in the 1990's have APG-68(V)5 radar and newly bought two-seat Block 52+ F-16Ds have APG-68(V)9, probably with a better mission computer and possibly a video datalink as the Israeli F-16Is.
The Israelis intend to bring all of their F-16s to a common standard and may eventually fit EL/M-2052 radar on them. Would the RSAF follow suit?
Cheers,
Sunho -
Actually IIRC Israeli wanted their EL/M-2052 ASEA radar to be installed in their new F-16I (Israeli Blk52+) at the production line, but the US govt and the manufacturer do not allow it.
In fact, US has stated that new a/c purchased from them must be installed with their radar, if the user later want to installed a non US radar, the manufacturer will not provide any technical support.Not on U.S. fighters
http://intellibriefs.blogspot.com/2005/05/first-israeli-designed-aesa-radar.html
As for potential customers of the new radar, industry officials acknowledged that U.S. government restrictions prevent Elta or its parent company, Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd., from integrating the new radar in U.S. F-16 and F-15 fighters flown by the Israel Air Force. Similarly, the planned U.S. F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is not a candidate for the EL/M 2052, since the Pentagon is insisting that only a home-grown U.S. radar will be offered with the new aircraft.
Livnat said EltaÂ’s principal focus for the EL/M 2052 is the international fighter upgrade market. He noted that preliminary market forecasts indicate that hundreds of fighter platforms could be made available for significant upgrades over the next 10 years.
However, Livnat emphasized that Elta is just now beginning to market the new radar, and therefore has no specific customer nation or fighter aircraft within its grasp.
“We don’t want to rule out any platform, since we have experience in adapting our radars to many different platforms. It all depends on the countries that may choose to upgrade existing fleets for the air superiority and advanced strike role instead of purchasing new aircraft,” he said.
When asked about the new Elta radar, a senior executive from Lockheed Martin, prime contractor for the F-16 as well as the planned F-35, insisted that Elta would not be able to offer the EL/M 2052 on any American aircraft without the express approval of U.S. airframe manufacturers and the U.S. government.
Interviewed during a visit to Israel on March 28, the Lockheed Martin executive said: “The Israelis can’t add a radar to their own F-16s or any F-16s on the market, for that matter, without permission from Lockheed Martin and the U.S. government. Without approval to provide the software interface, those aircraft cannot be supported … and I seriously doubt that there will be a change in U.S. policy regarding software source codes anytime in the foreseeable future.”
So unless IAF has by-pass the s/w codes, then RSAF is not buying them for our F-16.