A first flight has been completed by a Spanish air force Eurofighter equipped with a new active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar.
Announcing the development on 2 December via a post on X, Airbus Defence & Space describes the test activity as a step towards “enhancing the Eurofighter’s capabilities in multimode air-to-air and air-to-ground operations”.
Spain has ordered ECRS Mk1 AESA sensors to equip aircraft being acquired via its project Halcon, which covers the acquisition of 20 new-build jets.
Also working with Airbus’s defence unit, Hensoldt is involved in integrating the same radar model into the Eurofighter for Germany. The sensor will initially be installed on 38 aircraft to be fielded via Berlin’s Quadriga programme, but it plans to add the array to all its examples of the multirole type by late this decade.
The flight-test milestone for Spain follows a similar recent first involving the Leonardo UK-developed ECRS Mk2 AESA array for the UK’s Tranche 3 Eurofighter Typhoons. A prototype sensor was flown for the first time in late-September from integration partner BAE Systems’ Warton site in Lancashire, the UK.
