MOSCOW. June 16 (Interfax-AVN) - The Fazotron-NIIR Corporation is developing proposals on fitting active phased arrays on both new, and mass-produced radars.
"Such modernization envisions for a radar to be stripped off the transmitter and the aerial, replaced with the active phased array. At the same time the main part of the radar and the controls are left intact," Yury Guskov, Fazotron-NIIR Deputy Director General/Designer General, told Interfax-Military News Agency on Wednesday.
According to him, the Zhuk-ME radar, fitted on MIG-29 Fulcrum fighters, may also be fitted with active phased arrays in the future.
"For instance, the Americans have already embraced such an approach. They have developed an active phased array and started modernizing some of the existing aircraft, which has considerably improved combat capabilities of the latter. They use the experience gained to design the transceiver, the major component of an active phased array, to be fitted on fifth-generation fighters," Guskov said.
He noted that an active phased array was capable of operating in various frequencies, discharging a whole range of various tasks, including target acquisition, jamming, data transfers, etc. In fact, an active phased array is not just an integral part of a radar, but rather an integral part of aircraft avionics. It is involved in target designation, jamming, reconnaissance, etc.
According to Guskov, a number of technical problems have to be solved in order to equip existing radars with active phased arrays. For instance, one of such problems consists in diverting the power, not emitted by the radar. The matter is that the most optimal coefficient of efficiency of an active phased array amounts to 25-30%. If one wants the radar to emit five kilowatts, it has to be supplied with about 20 kW. At the same time, 75% of this power (about 15 kW) will not be emitted, and have to be diverted from the active phased array. It is quite a complicated technical problems, but it can be solved, Guskov said.