APG-79
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The AN/APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar is a new development for the United States Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler aircraft, providing enhanced reliability and a high level of aircrew situational awareness. The AESA radar has an exceptionally agile beam, providing nearly instantaneous track updates and enhanced multi-target tracking capability. The APG-79 AESA uses transmit/receive (TR) modules populated with GaAs MMICs.[1] In the F/A-18E/F, the radar is installed in a slide-out nose rack to facilitate maintenance.
Benefiting from the entirely solid-state antenna construction, the APG-79 features dramatically improved reliability and lower cost - indeed, such is the confidence that the antenna will need no attention other than for battle damage, a modified radome, which slides forward instead of hinging to the right, has been introduced for the F/A-18E/F, saving valuable space in aircraft carrier hangars, where the radome is often damaged during routine maintenance.
The APG-79 is compatible with current F/A-18 weapon loads and enables aircrew to take full advantage of AIM-120 AMRAAM capabilities, simultaneously guiding multiple missiles to several targets widely spaced in azimuth, elevation or range.
The APG-79 radar completed formal operational evaluation (OPEVAL) testing in December 2006. As of January 2007 the radar was installed in 28 aircraft; some were experiencing software problems but that issue was expected to be resolved by the end of fiscal year 2007.[2] The Navy expects to order approximately 400 production radars.
