[Piano Red]

Link

Northrop Grumman Completes Successful Demonstration of New Synthetic Aperture Radar Capability for F-22 Fighter

BALTIMORE, Feb. 14, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has successfully demonstrated the capability to generate high-resolution, in-flight synthetic aperture radar (SAR) maps using the AESA (active electronically scanned array) radar being produced for the U.S. Air Force's F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft.


"The flight tests, on board a company BAC 1-11 test bed aircraft, have proved that the F-22 fighter's mission capabilities have expanded to include directly identifying and targeting enemy ground defenses and mobile forces," said Teri Marconi, vice president of Combat Avionics Systems at Northrop Grumman. "This is a hugely significant event for the F-22 program because it ensures that Raptor pilots will have access to critical detailed information about both air and ground threats before the enemy's radar ever detects the F-22."

The test flights are the first phase of a planned multi-year contract with The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) to incorporate SAR capability into the existing fleet of F-22s and new production aircraft in support of future air-to-ground requirements.

Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector leads a joint venture with the Raytheon Company (NYSE:RTN) to design, develop and produce the F-22 radar system. Northrop Grumman is responsible for the overall design of the AN/APG-77 and AN/APG-77(V)1 AESA radars -- the latter of which features the new air-to-ground capabilities, including SAR. The company is also responsible for the control and signal processing software and radar system integration and test activities.

The Boeing Company, which is teamed with prime contractor Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) and Pratt & Whitney (NYSE:UTX) to design and build the F-22 Raptor, has responsibility for integrating the radar with the other avionics systems to produce an integrated suite that features sensor-fused target detection and tracking.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a $32 billion global defense and technology company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in information and services, electronics, aerospace and shipbuilding to government and commercial customers worldwide.

[Rancid]

cool

[NYYS]

I don't understand exactly what this does. From reading and wiki'ing SAR radar it appears it does what a normal radar does (allows the pilot to see things BVR). Is this just a better one or something?

[Rancid]

yea, but it's higher resolution.. kind of like imaging sonars i believe

so you can see the shape of the objects..

[Typhoon]

I don't understand exactly what this does.

Synthetic Apeture has been a ground mapping function of airbourne radar for some time now, it provides a high resolution image of the ground in the region of 1*1 m+. It does this by memorising tracks over a period of time as it moves providing a higher resolution than its antenna would normally allow, hence synthetic apeture.


http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/003/T0446E/T044621.gif

This will often be linked to an GMTI (ground moving target indicator) to observe moving targets.

It should be noted that the F-22 has also been suffering a number of problems recently. 2/3 of the fleet appear to be suffering from corrosion issues. Probably the biggest blow in light of the recent F-15 fleet grounding was the questioning of several elements of the F-22 core strcture, which are also likely to require modification.
Twice the F-22 has been prevented from foreign deployment to the ME. The aircraft is also still missing some quite essential systems in terms of its ability to be netwroked (reliant on voice radio for external communication) as well as helmet cueing and armnament issues.
The F-22 will live up to expectations (after a lot of delay and cost) and it does have a lead on the competition, problem is that this lead is closing rapidly.

[stalker]

Yeah, how is this a step change for the better?

[NYYS]

It should be noted that the F-22 has also been suffering a number of problems recently. 2/3 of the fleet appear to be suffering from corrosion issues. Probably the biggest blow in light of the recent F-15 fleet grounding was the questioning of several elements of the F-22 core strcture, which are also likely to require modification.
Twice the F-22 has been prevented from foreign deployment to the ME. The aircraft is also still missing some quite essential systems in terms of its ability to be netwroked (reliant on voice radio for external communication) as well as helmet cueing and armnament issues.

I haven't heard about any of this, other than the computer crash when they crossed a certain longitude line traveling to Japan, I think, and the corrosion issue which was part of the pre-existing budget for unforeseen circumstances.

[Takkon]

I don't understand why this is in this section.

[Thunderhawk]

Corrosion?

I wonder if its due to a simple oversight of the electro potential of the various metals used in the structure.

[Typhoon]

I haven't heard about any of this,

Theres quite a PR campaign around the F-22, though controvercy is out there if you look for it. Indeed the US airforce is facing a little crisis at the moment, with ageing aircraft and trying to procure new ones.

I wonder if its due to a simple oversight of the electro potential of the various metals used in the structure.

Leaky access panels.

[Attila The Nun]

It's a fine aircraft, but I'm worried about the cost and the complexity. In a war situation I doubt these things could be mass-produced economically, but perhaps the time in which mass-production of planes is impossible given the technology that a fighter has to have today to be competitive.

[Thunderhawk]

Leaky access panels.

In a war situation I doubt these things could be mass-produced economically, but perhaps the time in which mass-production of planes is impossible given the technology that a fighter has to have today to be competitive.

Why bother with fleets of piloted aircraft?
Drones are cheaper, can tolerate higher gs, and are easier to mass produce.

[timel]

Drones, maybe in bombing or recognition.
They ain't that fast they don't take much payload
http://www.sagem-ds.com/eng/site.php?spage=02020506

Distance they can make? Last point; Controling them on such a long distance and have them to go lower in altitude for recognition.

VHF is linear.

Plus you can't replace a pilot in a cockpit on judgement in the situation.

[MB.]

>

[Piano Red]

That's actually a picture of the YF-22 prototype aircraft.

There's a big difference between it and the actual F-22 production design.

[alyster]

lol the plane has hardly made it into service and already upgrades are for offer talking about money making

[MB.]

The YF 22 was way cooler than the F-22.


Also, the YF 23 rapes all.


Okay I'm done.

[Dr House]

Also, the YF 23 rapes all.

Damn right. Only thing better on the F-22 is its maneuverability, and only because of thrust vectoring (which can be easily ported over into the YF-23).

[timel]

MB. Jeeze read F-35 post.


Just go on youtube and check for F-22 vs the rest. It's a shame for the rest except for Su-** maybe!

YF-23 is an un-finished shitty prototype, and not finished probably for good reasons.

[Zagadka]

Goodie, the F-22 can stand up to our modern enemy air for- oh, wait... are we expecting war with Europe any time soon?

Plus you can't replace a pilot in a cockpit on judgement in the situation.

Yes you can. Put them a few hundred miles away in a mockup and use the same systems used for UAVs. You could put in more controls, you don't have to worry about limiting Gs, and you don't risk the lives of the pilot or the people who would rescue a downed pilot. It can also be smaller and carry more munitions. Hell, getting rid of the cockpit would let you totally redesign the aircraft.

Frankly, with the technology we have now with radar networks and guided systems (UAVs and cruise missiles), I don't think we need to spend billions upgrading the Air Force to face an enemy that does not yet exist with aircraft that may be obsolete.

One of the current engagement scenarios I've seen discussed is using the Raptors on patrol to link up with the network and guide in many missiles fired from a B-1 or other aircraft. There's little reason that can't be done with remote/unmanned AVs.