South Korea's airborne early warning competition has produced novel solutions
Thales and Raytheon are offering South Korea two different Airbus A320 based airborne early warning & control (AEW&C) solutions to compete against the Northrop Grumman MESA-equipped Boeing 737 system.
There has been realignment in the line up of contenders for the South Korean air force's recently resurrected E-X competition. Three rival AEW bids have been submitted and are undergoing local test and evaluation, with a final selection now targeted for mid-2002.
Thales has proposed its own AEW&C system based on a l-band electronically scanned array packaged in a dorsal-mounted, 10m (32ft) long housing, similar in configuration to the Ericcson Erieye. The system provides 300í of continuous coverage and draws on ground based air defence radar modules and the exciter and signal processing architecture of the RBE2 radar fitted to the Dassault Rafale.
It has chosen the A320 to compete in South Korea but claims the system could be fitted to the smaller A319CJ. "This system has potential for growth. There is also interest in the A319CJ which was designed for longer endurance. It's a compromise between size and endurance," says Yves Destefanis, Thales AEW&C programme director.
Thales had previously teamed with Ericcson to compete in South Korea with a S-band Erieye-equipped Embraer EMB-145. The system however fails to comply with the E-X requirement for 10 or more tactical displays and over 6h on station endurance.
Raytheon has opted to base its proposal on the A321 after dropping the widebody A310 in the wake of Australia and Turkey's recent selection of the 737AEW&C. "The A321 has a number of advantages, including lower costs," explains Bob O'Rourke, Raytheon vice president, business development and advanced programmes.
In place of the A310's dorsal-mounted system, Raytheon is to repackage the Elta Phalcon phased array radar around a conformal/bi-polar configuration similar to the original Boeing 707-based Phalcon. The A321 would feature two cheek-mounted conformal arrays and nose and tail mounted antennas.
Although Turkey has selected the 737AEW&C, Ankara and Washington DC are still wrestling with technology reliability issues and a contract has yet to be signed. Raytheon has not given up and retroactively submitted a fresh proposal based on its A321 offering to South Korea.
Italy is expected to be the next nation to issue an AEW&C request for proposals at the end of the year. Northrop Grumman is set to compete for it with the E-2C Hawkeye 2000, or more likely the proposed new Fairchild Dornier 728JET platform.
Source: Flight International
