Northrop Grumman to begin flight testing of advanced radar

Northrop Grumman is using a C-130 to mitigate risk and evaluate the in-flight performance of the advanced radar being developed for the next generation US Navy E-2C Hawkeye. Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems sector has readied an NC-130H test bed for the Radar Modernisation Programme (RMP). Test versions of the new radar's transmitter, receiver, antenna and rotary coupler will be installed soon for the six-month test programme scheduled to start in late summer or early fall.

"Having the C-130 allows us to flight test the electronic design of the new radar long before production-version components are available," said John E. Michaelsen, Integrated Product Team leader and vice president for Airborne Early Warning Systems. "That reduces the risk of the RMP programme significantly and, of course, will preview how the radar will perform in flight."

In addition to risk reduction efforts, "Successful testing of RMP in the NC-130 will be a significant milestone in the Navy's roadmap to a single integrated air picture," said Capt. N. Lee Lilly (PMA-231), E-2/C-2 programme manager.

The aircraft will not have the typical Hawkeye workstations. Rather, radar data will be recorded aboard the aircraft and evaluated in a ground station.

A team from Airborne Early Warning and Electronic Warfare Systems, one of Integrated Systems' three business areas, modified the aircraft's cooling and power systems, wings, cabling and the structure that carries the antenna's disk-shaped rotating rotodome, which was then installed. They also installed all the racks and other components necessary to accept the advanced development RMP radar.

The new radar, being developed by Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems is a solid-state, electronically steered UHF design featuring an advanced signal processor utilising space time adaptive processing. The transmitter offers solid-state, multichannel performance with higher projected reliability than the current tube-based subsystem. The antenna allows for continuous 360-degree coverage but with the added ability to perform electronic steering for critical target detection and tracking. The receiver and signal processing system eliminates clutter and jamming/electromagnetic interference so that target detection is maximised.

The next-generation RMP/Advanced Hawkeye will also have theatre missile defence capabilities, multisensor integration, a tactical cockpit giving the co-pilot the capability to function as a fourth mission system operator, a new communications suite, new generators, improved identification friend-or-foe system, and an updated mission computer and software. The plan is to deliver the first prototype aircraft in 2007, followed by production RMP/Advanced Hawkeye in 2008.

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