Key Points
- The United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Spain have committed EUR1 billion to integrate and complete the development of the Captor-E AESA radar onto the Eurofighter Typhoon
- AESA radars as seen as a key capability for new fighter aircraft and are an important selling point for aircraft on the export market
The award marks the final stage of development on the AESA - seen as a key new capability and vital for export success - onto the Typhoon prior to the awarding of production contracts.
The contract was signed in Edinburgh by the CEO of Eurofighter Jadgflugzeug GmbH and by UK Royal Air Force Air Vice Marshal Graham Farnell on behalf of the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency (NETMA), on behalf of the partner nations: the United Kingdom; Germany; Italy; and Spain. The Eurofighter consortium, meanwhile, is comprised of Airbus, BAE Systems, and Finmeccanica.
During the ceremony, Alberto Gutierrez, the CEO of Eurofighter GmbH, stated that "the signing of this contract is a massive boost to all of us and is a pivotal moment. It enhances a weapons system that offers a mix of capabilities that is simply unmatched anywhere in the world. It's something that Europe should be immensely proud of."
Work on the Captor-E radar is conducted by the Euroradar consortium, comprising Airbus, Indra, and Selex ES.
Speaking to IHS Jane's , a spokesperson for Selex ES stated that the contract "covers the development of the E-Scan radar capability as well as its integration into the Eurofighter weapon system".
The spokesperson added that: "Flight development testing is expected to start in second quarter of 2015. The new radar will be available to satisfy the operational requirements and timings of all the air forces that are operating Eurofighter Typhoon as well as future export customers currently evaluating the aircraft."
AESAs offer significant improvements over previous passive electronically scanned array (PESA) or mechanically scanned array (M-Scan) radar in that they enable they allow for the transmit/receive (T/R) modules of the radar to act independently. This enables the radar to modulate its frequency constantly, making it much more difficult to detect and also to jam than a PESA. Additionally it enables the individual T/R modules to conduct non-radar functions, for example providing electronic-warfare capabilities, while also providing a high level of redundancy.
Most AESA radars are also static, allowing for a reduction in maintenance requirements compared with previous M-Scan radars. Compared with the existing M-Scan Captor radar on the Typhoon, AESA's and PESA's also allow enable to radar to direct multiple different beams at any one time, allowing for a significantly improved capability to track different targets - in the air and on the ground.
For an AESA, however, the Captor-E is notable in that its antennae is mechanically steerable, allowing the radar to cover a very wide field of regard.
Speaking about the improvement in capability that the Captor-E will offer, AVM Farnell stated: "The Eurofighter Typhoon lies at the heart of NATO airpower and will continue to do so for many decades to come. This new capability will ensure the fighter remains a vital component in the mix. It's an historic day in the life of the programme."
A Selex spokesperson declined to comment on how the value of the EUR1 billion contract would be divided between the various companies involved; however, BAE Systems claimed its share of the contract at the system integrator for the radar was worth some GBP365 million (USD571 million).
COMMENT
The progression of the Typhoon's AESA radar development is a solid step in the right direction, but for the partner nation's militaries it still falls short of an actual production order for the aircraft type. It remains to be seen then when any of the Eurofighter partner nations may choose to stump up the cash to retrofit their existing Typhoons with the Captor-E capability.The contract is nevertheless of great importance to the aircraft's opportunities on the export market. It had previously been perceived that some potential buyers of the Typhoon were being put off by the thought of potentially having to fund the integration of the AESA onto the aircraft. With AESA integration now fully funded by the Eurofighter partners and the programme making visible steps forward, any potential customer concerns over the future of AESA on Typhoon will now have been removed.
Credit Janes.Com
