Northrop Grumman has successfully flown its Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) AESA radar on a USAF F-16 in tests at Edwards AFB in California.
The SABR is designed as a retrofit for F-16s and other fourth generation fighters as part of a greater electronics upgrade program. “This officially marks the first time a retrofit AESA has ever flown in a legacy F-16,” said Arlene Camp, director of advanced F-16 radar programs at Northrop Grumman’s Electronic Systems sector. “With regard to installed performance, SABR’s air-to-air and air-to-ground detection and tracking and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) mapping performance met or exceeded our predictions.”
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No customers have ordered the SABR as yet, although countries such as Korea, Greece, Egypt, Israel and Turkey are reported to be interested in a potential upgrade of their F-16C/D fleets with the system. The only other AESA radar fit on an F-16 is that of the APG-80 equipped F-16E/F Block 60s supplied to the UAE, while the APG-80 has also been offered to India as part of Lockheed Martin’s F-16IN bid.
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