Not many may be aware that F-16v Block 70/72 Super Viper has been fitted with a state of the art AESA fire control radar AN/APG-83. It has a detection range of 120 km and engagement range of 84 km. It can simultaneously track more than 20 targets. It integrates within the aircraft’s current structural, power and cooling systems. Many people understand the capabilities of a radar only from range. But that is not the be all and end all of radar.
The capabilities of this AESA radar AN/APG-83 RADAR are derived from 5th generation fighter AESA radars i.e. APG-77 of F-22 and APG-81 of F-35. Moreover bvr capabilities of F-16 Super Viper with this radar have to be viewed from the fact that this aircraft has a clean RCS of only 1m square. F-16 is planform in construction plus painted with Radar Absorbing Material.
Japan Self Defence Force (JSDF-Mitsubishi had built a technology demonstrator from F-16) that developed this radar calls it Viper Zero, which you can understand as giving Viper zero probability of getting detected or RCS approaching Zero.
Moreover AN/APG-83 RADAR can send its signal emissions across a wider range of frequencies which makes F-16 difficult to be detected over background noise.
SABR (Scalable Agile Beam Radar) as the radar is called has greater bandwidth, speed, agility of the radar which gives the pilot 5th generation fighter radar capabilities to counter and defeat increasingly sophisticated threats.
The qualities of this radar include :
- Big SAR wide area high-resolution maps
- High quality coordinate generation
- Faster search and target acquisition
- Smaller target detection
- Multi-target tracking
- Robust electronic protection ( Air to Air and Air to Ground)
– Enhanced Combat ID
– Interleaved mode operations for greater situational awareness
– Maritime modes
– 3-5x greater reliability and availability.
( Information gathered from manufacturer Northrop Grumman and various other sources).
AESA is a real force multiplier in two respects. One is that the pilot is able to become the manager of the battlespace with the significant increases in the ability to track and manage targets. The other is that the large number of T/R [transmit/receive] modules makes the antenna a multi-functional array. The fighter is now no longer just tracking targets, but it is capable of conducting radar mapping, function as an ISR platform, and transmitting EW.”
The autonomy that an AESA provides—freeing the fighter pilot from dependence on an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft or ground-controlled intercept—is an attractive capability to have because of the speed at which today’s combat operations take place. The AESA also allows an aircraft to engage and fire on a larger number of targets, as well as hand-off targeting data to other aircraft.