GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC
Northrop Grumman is in talks to share its winner-takes-all contract to develop the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) radar with loser Raytheon. An agreement will address concerns about the industrial base for active electronically scanned array (AESA) fire-control radars, a critical technology in which the USA holds a commanding lead.
"Northrop Grumman and Raytheon are being encouraged to have discussions, and they are having them," Tom Burbage, general manager of the Lockheed Martin-led F-35 JSF programme, said in January. Lockheed Martin is leaving talks to partner Northrop Grumman, with one caveat: "We plan on one radar, not alternatives."
A deal on sharing JSF radar development would mark the second time the companies have been persuaded to co-operate to preserve a competitive capability to produce AESA radars. Last year, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon successfully concluded lengthy and contentious talks to share development of a family of active-array airborne ground-surveillance radars under the US Air Force's Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Programme (MP-RTIP).
Despite the MP-RTIP and potential JSF agreements, the companies continue to pursue separately an AESA radar business which is beginning to take on an international dimension. Last year, Raytheon signed a deal with Sweden's Ericsson Microwave Systems to supply the active antenna for an AESA radar system demonstrator scheduled to fly in 2004, and will pave the way for a future Saab/BAE Systems Gripen upgrade. Northrop Grumman, meanwhile, is developing a private-venture AESA radar for the Boeing 737-based airborne early warning and control aircraft ordered by Australia and selected by Turkey.
Northrop Grumman appeared to be leading its rival, winning the competition to develop the APG-77 for the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor. Then, in 1999, the US Air Force revealed that its first operational AESA is Raytheon's secretly developed APG-63(V)2, installed in 18 BoeingF-15C Eagles based in Alaska.
The two companies' successes have divided along the lines of their long-term associations with the two surviving US fighter manufacturers. Raytheon is continuing its role as radar supplier for Boeing's F/A-18 by developing the APG-79 AESA for the F/A-18E/F while Northrop Grumman's active-array APG-80 for the F-16 Block 60 is the latest in a long line of radars for the Lockheed Martin fighter. These are the lines along which the JSF competition divided, Raytheon joining Boeing and Northrop Grumman with Lockheed Martin.
So far, the two companies have kept pace. The APG-63(V)2 andAPG-77 are air-to-air AESAs, offering longer-range, greater target tracking capability and higher reliability than mechanically scanned radars. The APG-79 and APG-80 will be the first multimode AESAs, adding air-to-ground capabilities such as high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) ground imaging. The JSF will take AESA a step further with use of the multifunction array's electronic-warfare capabilities as a sensitive receiver and powerful jammer.
With selection of the Lockheed Martin/Northrop Grumman/BAE Systems team to produce the JSF, widely billed as the USA's last manned fighter, the issue has become one of how Raytheon will maintain capability to develop advanced AESA radars.
Although JSF and MP-RTIP are expected to consume most of its AESA funding in coming years, the US Department of Defense wants to maintain the ability to compete the supply of radars for future upgrades and unmanned combat air vehicles. Opportunities include the potential upgrade of USAF F-15E strike fighters. Options include the JSF radar or developments of the APG-63(V)2 and APG-77 with SAR capability for precision targeting. The USAF is already looking at a possible SAR upgrade to the APG-77 to increase the F-22's air-to-ground capability as part of the Block 5 software update planned after the fighter enters service in 2005.
Source: Flight International
