McDONNELL DOUGLAS (MDC) is flight-testing an F-15 equipped with a system to locate and identify enemy radars. Although the US Air Force has decided not to proceed with development of the precision direction-finding (PDF) system for the F-15, Congress has allocated funds to complete the demonstration/ validation phase now under way.
The PDF, developed with Litton Amecom and TRW, would enable the F-15 to be used on missions to suppress enemy air-defences (SEAD). The system consists of a receiver and digital processor, connected to conformal antenna arrays. For the demonstration, the receiver/processor has been installed in the ammunition bay of an F-15D, and conformal antennas positioned around the aircraft nose, aft of the radome.
MDC says that initial flights demonstrated that it is feasible to install an "extremely sensitive and accurate RF [radio-frequency] targeting system on a fighter."
Source: Flight International
