Gripen NG flight-tests Skyward-G IRST

[vivINDIAN]

Mounted ahead of the windscreen, the Skyward-G IRST unit for the Gripen E made its first flight on the Gripen NG technology demonstrator on 31 March. Source: Saab


The Skyward-G infrared search-and-track (IRST) system was successfully flown on the Saab Gripen NG technology demonstrator aircraft for the first time on 31 March, Saab announced on 4 April 2014.

Skyward-G, mounted just ahead of the canopy windscreen, is able to detect heat emissions to track and identify all types of targets, will be one of the new sensors on the Gripen E.

The first flight of Skyward-G, developed by the Air and Space Systems division of Selex ES, produced "very good results", according to Saab test pilot Hans Einerth. "Multiple targets were detected, tracked, and identified and the system works perfectly as expected," he said.

This IRST test flight was to verify the system's functions and the integration on board the aircraft. The integration and development work on the Gripen E is progressing according to schedule, the company said. The sensor does not emit a signal but looks forward across a wide sector, registering long-wave infrared emissions from other aircraft, helicopters, and from objects on the ground and sea surface. Thus, without revealing the aircraft's own position, can silently detect, track, and identify all types of targets.

Briefing journalists during a March visit to Saab's Linkoping facility, Bob Mason of Selex ES, stated that IRST systems can detect all aircraft flying faster than about 300 kt, even if exhaust plume emissions are reduced. This was possible, he said, as a result of the aerodynamic heating of the aircraft's skin and the heat coming from the engine core being absorbed into the airframe, with the low observable coatings on 'stealth' aircraft being particularly prone to aerodynamic heating.

Gripen NG flight-tests Skyward-G IRST - IHS Jane's 360