The Competitive Edge
It wasn't until a couple of years back that only the US fighters could boast of the new generation Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) airborne radars. Among these aircraft with this great asset are the Lockheed Martin F-16E/F Block 60 Fighting Falcon (using the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-80 AESA radar), the updated USAF model Boeing F-15C/F-15SG (fitted with the Raytheon AN/APG-63(V)2 and AN/APG-63(V)3 respectively), the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and the EA-18G Growler (equipped with the Raytheon APG-79 or APG-82(V)1). The Americans now have a ‘
rival’ in the shape of the French Air Force’s Rafale fighter, fitted with the Thales RBE2/AA AESA lightweight radar. The Rafale was the first European fighter to be fitted with an AESA radar.
A committed research and development program coupled with a sustained application by the French industry have been behind the Rafale emerging as the first European combat aircraft with a functional electronically phased array radar and a completely indigenous hi-tech sensor. Other European efforts relying on non-European technology are still at various stages of development and testing. Ericsson’s PS-05/A MK-5 (NORA) for the JAS 39 Gripen and Euroradar’s Captor-E CAESAR (Captor Active Electronically Scanning Array Radar) for the Eurofighter are two primary examples.
The Rafale is already a splendid multirole fighter aircraft, it is even better with this new radar. The new RBE2 AESA brings to the Rafale an extended range of capabilities like low-observable target detection, full use of new weapon systems such as the new MBDA Meteor. BVR hypersonic air-to-air missiles, a much higher reliability with relatively low maintenance costs and greater waveform agility for SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) imaging and improved resistance to jamming.
All export versions of the Rafale, including the 36 earmarked for the Indian Air Force’s, will incorporate the Thales AESA advanced radar technology as standard. Rafales now use the NATO Link 16 tactical data exchange network.
A Smarter Radar
An AESA radar, also known as ‘Active Phased Array’ radar, is that type of radar whose transmitter and receiver functions are composed of numerous independent solid-state transmitters and receiver modules (TRMs). Other components include an advanced receiver/exciter, ruggedized Commercial Off-The-Shelf processors, and power supplies. AESA radars simply aim their ‘beam’ by emitting separate radio waves from each module at certain angles which form a virtual sheaf in front of the antenna. Such radar is an improvement on the older passive electronically scanned (PESA) radar which emitted across a much larger band of frequencies, making it difficult to detect over background noise and clutter. The Rafale with its AESA radar will broadcast powerful radar signals to detect enemy aircraft or surface targets, while itself remaining unobserved. The complete ‘electronic cloak’ provided by the Rafale’s Thales Spectra ECM suite, which is unique, is another advantage that this aircraft boasts of. It seems very likely that the French has outwitted the Americans in this exclusive technological development.
In conclusion, one has to reemphasise that the choice of the Rafale by the IAF was based on sound evaluation and intent. The Indian Air Force has the greatest and most crucial stake in the process of defending the nation's airspace and security and to this effect, the Rafale will prove to be the most effective weapon in its arsenal.
(With inputs from Jean-Michel Guhl in Paris)
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