APG-79 praised, when it works, but shutdowns and restarts continue to frustrate
A Raytheon active-array radar upgrade for the Boeing F/A-18E/F Block II Super Hornet has at times “dazzled” US Navy crews during tests, but continuing software stability problems are hampering performance and jeopardising the development schedule, says a new US military test report.
The APG-79 active electronically scanned array (AESA) “has experienced multiple radar shutdowns that necessitated airborne radar restarts”, says the 2005 report by the Director of the Office of Test and Evaluation. The software stability issue must be fixed if the radar is to remain on schedule to enter operational evaluation early this year, which the report says is an “optimistic” goal.
The software glitches have led to other delays in the APG-79 integration plan, with the USN deferring some radar capabilities planned for inclusion in the first software block. The first-release software will now be used only for training aircraft, with a second version with full functionality planned for integration with the navy’s first deployed Block II Super Hornet unit, which will become operational late in fiscal year 2007. The APG-79 will be the first active array in the US military inventory with simultaneous air- and ground-tracking modes.
The test and evaluation report notes that the radar has operated consistently in spurts during tests. “On one flight it will dazzle the aircrew with its target detection range and resolution, and on the next it will frustrate them with multiple shutdowns and restarts,” it says.
Raytheon acknowledges “there have been instances where coding errors or system anomalies have caused the radar to cease operation or hang up and require a restart to recover operation. This is a similar condition in which our desktop or laptop computers occasionally hang-up and require a restart. In some cases the restart may have been caused by a software coding error or anomalies with the Fiber Channel [databus].
“The effort to achieve stable radar operation and eliminate restarts is part of normal radar development and integration,” Raytheon adds. “All earlier generation radar systems pass through similar processes including the effort to achieve system stability. We are on track for operational evaluation entry later this year.”
STEPHEN TRIMBLE / WASHINGTON DC
Source: Flight International
