F-16 Fighting Falcon News

February 19, 2014 (by Lieven Dewitte) - Northrop Grumman was chosen by prime contractor Lockheed Martin as the radar provider for the U.S.A.F and Taiwan F-16 radar modernization and upgrade programs, which aim to keep the F-16 viable in future threat environments and to improve system reliability, maintainability, and affordability.
Northrop Grumman Corporation's Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) will help bring advanced capabilities to existing global F-16 fleets, keeping them formidable beyond 2025.

The F-16 Radar Modernization Program (RMP) provides an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar for the US Air Force's Combat Avionics Programmed Extension Suite (CAPES) and Taiwan F-16 retrofit programmes.

Since the SABR active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar was selected for the U.S. Air Force and Taiwan modernization and upgrade programs this past July, the system has completed three major development and design reviews. Several engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) systems are now in production, with the first to be delivered to Lockheed Martin before the end of 2014.

The EMD systems will be delivered to Lockheed Martin, the prime system integrator for the F-16 RMP, later in 2014.

SABR features Big Synthetic Aperture Radar (Big SAR), which allows for broad area all-environment precision mapping and location, and improved situational awareness. Air-to-air and air-to-surface modes have substantially increased ranges and can be operated simultaneously, resulting in improved situational awareness and survivability.

"We are providing SABR with robust electronic protection, including proven software directly reused from the F-35's AN/APG-81," said Leavitt. "We have over seven decades of experience in RF systems. We have applied that deep understanding of EP to SABR, increasing survivability in dense RF environments against present and future threats."