GaAs radar adds grunt to Growler
Raytheon has been signed up to provide more than 400 APG-79 radars for fire control in US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler aircraft.
“We expect deliveries to continue over the next five to ten years and possibly longer depending on international interest,” said a spokesperson for the military contractor.
The APG-79 radars rely on transmit/receive (TR) modules populated with GaAs MMICs, many of which are made at Raytheon s Andover, Massachusetts foundry.
GaAs PHEMTs form the basis for power generation, power amplification and amplification of the radar s received X-band signals.
The TR modules integrate GaAs high power amplifier, driver amplifier, low noise amplifier, and common leg circuit MMICs into a high density package to be incorporated into the radar.
Active electronically scanned array (AESA) systems, such as the APG-79, are characterized by the large number of TR modules they use to perform transmitter and receiver functions. This gives AESA radar an advantage in terms of reliability, as it can continue to operate despite individual TR failures.
For the APG-79 in particular, operating in the X-band also allows long-range tracking of multiple targets day or night, including under adverse weather conditions.
“The AESA is a game changer that not only improves the Super Hornet s sting but makes the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Block II more reliable, more survivable and more formidable against all known threats,” said Bob Gower, vice president for the F/A-18 programs at Boeing.
Although Raytheon will only be producing between four and six APG-79 radars each month, the need for high numbers of TR modules in each unit demands low-cost GaAs manufacturing.
Consequently, high yields and volume production techniques are needed - challenges which Raytheon has met, it says.
The need for production ramp-up may get even greater, as APG-79 s popularity with the US military grows.
“Super Hornet Block II and EA-18G aircraft equipped with AESA's revolutionary war-fighting capability make naval aviation more relevant than ever,” said Donald Gaddis, F/A-18 and EA-18G program manager for the US Navy.
Raytheon will be banking on the enthusiasm of Gaddis and his colleagues, as it bids for a program which would expand its production of AESA radar systems and see them fly in the prestigious F-15 Eagle, which has reportedly never been shot down by an enemy.
