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The Israeli Phalcon is the first full scale application of phased array technology, using arrays along the fuselage and under the nose and tail. While providing full 360 degree coverage, the smaller size of the nose and tail arrays will limit angular resolution in the nose and tail sectors thus degrading system performance in these areas. While cheaper than external pylon mounted radomes in terms of structural modifications, conformal arrays require suitable airframe geometry if they are to be used to full advantage.
Airborne Early Warning and Control
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Part II REW Using Phased Rrray Technology
Active phased array antenna technology promises significant improvements in AEW&C platform performance. While the technology base has yet to mature, the first designs using this technology are now beginning to appear. Although the application of active arrays to AEW&C systems has been under discussion for many years, only three designs have been built to date and the technology has yet to reach full scale operational deployment.
Aew&C Using Active Phased Arrays
The most interesting problems in applying the technology of the active array to an AEW&C platform arise with antenna placement. Conventional AEW&C systems have traditionally employed a rotodome, the characteristic saucer shaped radome which covers a conventional antenna, the rotodome rotating in order to scan 360 degrees about the platform. The placement of the rotodome on pylons, elevated well above the aircraft‘s fuselage, ensured that the antenna had an unobstructed field of view about the aircraft. This was achieved at a considerable cost in weight, as the fuselage required strengthening to carry the structure, which itself wasn’t featherweight. In typical designs, the rotodome is designed with an aerodynamic profile which produces lift equal to the weight of the rotodome assembly under cruise conditions, thus alleviating structural loading in cruise. But this did not necessarily occur in other configurations, unless the rotodome is built to tilt and thus change the AoA of its aerodynamic section.
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