F-16 Fighting Falcon News

December 10, 2007 (by Lieven Dewitte) - Northrop Grumman Systems received a $730 million contract for covering up to 514 AN/APG-68(V)9 radar systems.
These mechanically-scanned array radars have become standard in the latest F-16C/D aircraft and represent significant advances over previous models. In comparison with previous APG-68 radars, the v9 model offers improved detection range and resolution in both air-air and air-ground modes.

Only the block 60 aircraft, destined for the UAE, are to be equipped with a more advanced version – the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar.

Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) technology processors allow 5x faster processing speed and 10x memory capacity, along with high resistance to interference or countermeasures and future growth potential.

In air-air mode, the APG-68V9 offers 30% longer detection ranges and can search in a larger volume while tracking up to four targets.

In air-ground mode, its synthetic-aperture radar mode generates high-resolution pictures and mapping with resolution under 1 meter, comparable to military imaging satellites.

Enhanced Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) functionality and an inertial measurement unit complement its SAR capabilities with improved tracking performance and auto-boresight capability and its increased detection range even functions amidst the inevitable clutter that accompanies sea surveillance mode.

The first delivery order under the contract covers 30 radar systems for the government of Turkey, which will be accomplished under the firm-fixed-price portion of the contract and obligate $36 million. Turkey has a $1.8 billion program underway to acquire 30 more F-16C/D aircraft.