F-16 Fighting Falcon News

March 2, 2006 (by Lieven Dewitte) - Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded a $63.9 million contract to provide AN/APG-68(V)9 airborne radars for F-16 block 52+ aircraft for the Hellenic Air Force.
Northrop Grumman has a direct contract with the United States Air Force for this procurement, which is being managed by the Air Force Materiel Command, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Delivery of the first of 33 radar systems, which includes three spares, will commence in 2007. The contract also includes an option to provide radars for an additional 10 aircraft.

The AN/APG-68(V)9 radar is an advanced capability system that seven foreign countries have purchased as standard equipment on new F-16s or as upgrade kits for their existing F-16 fleets. To date, Northrop Grumman has delivered more than 250 AN/APG-68(V)9 radars.

"This system delivers greatly improved operational capability -- essentially providing for all-weather, day and night, air-to-ground attack," said Katie A. Gray, vice president of F-16 sensor systems at Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector. "The Hellenic Air Force was one of the first customers for this system, and this is their second major order for the AN/APG-68(V)9 radar. They have been operating block 52+ F-16s for three years and have developed enhanced mission profiles that are enabled by the improved performance of the radar."

The AN/APG-68(V)9 additionally offers a 33 percent increase in air-to-air detection range over earlier versions of the radar and introduces synthetic aperture radar, which provides high-resolution ground mapping. When combined with other weapon-system improvements, it enables F-16s with autonomous 24-hour, all-weather precision-strike capability. The AN/APG-68(V)9 is also available as an easily-installed upgrade kit for existing F-16 aircraft.