Air International 2022-06
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T.Fish - Active and alert
The Osprey 30 AESA radar in the Norwegian AW101 search and rescue helicopter. In December 2020, it was announced the system would be fitted to Italy’s new G550 Airborne ISR and EW (AISREW) business jets converted by L3
General Atomics announced in April 2022 that it had integrated the Seaspray 7500E V2 multi-mode radar onto an MQ-9A Block 5 remotely piloted aircraft and performed its first test flight. The radar is also being fitted to the MQ-9B Sea Guardian variant
For this flight test, the PrecISR 1000 was integrated into a modified Cessna Caravan aircraft.
Hensoldt’s PrecISR uses a printed circuit board (PCB) to mount the T/R modules in a tile-array architecture that removes the need for bulky cables common in other AESA systems. It also incorporates radar electronics and the latest GPU and 5G processors rather than placing them in additional back-end equipment on the aircraft
A British Army Air Corps Wildcat AH1 helicopter with a mock-up of a Seaspray 7500E V2 AESA radar after completing trials on Salisbury Plain to prove its GMTI and SAR modes in locating ground targets. The Wildcat is already fitted with earlier variants of the Seaspray radar and could benefit from upgraded capabilities
A compact AESA radar like the Osprey 30 means multi-domain operations can be carried out by a single radar on smaller platforms than was previously allowed. This is the variant that is fitted to the MQ-9 Firescout rotary UAV. The use of modular panel means the radar can be positioned on other parts of aircraft rather than just in the nose
The PrecISR AESA radar from Hensoldt was developed by leveraging the company’s work on the Captor-E radar for the Eurofighter Typhoon. It weighs less than 58kg and can be fitted to light aircraft to enhance ISR capabilities