Recent EventsIntel Support We are sometimes very critical of poor reports in military journals, often because the reporter is young, has never served in the armed forces, is unaware of the platform or products history and as a result has grabbed the wrong end of the stick but it is far from being all bad. Sometimes an experienced reporter is in exactly the right place at the right time and reports the event in precise detail. So it was with some regret that Jane’s was sold out to IHS on the other side of the big pond, with subsequent loss of very experienced UK based staff. Meanwhile, some users were beginning to believe that they might have to rely on questionable Internet sources, but there has been one source that appears to have appraised the situation well and moved to fill a threatening void. Shephard Media Publications has been around for a good number of years, but the business has grown very positively during the last half decade and their latest documents should not be ignored. You can follow Shephard Media on: https://www.shephardmedia.com/news/digital-battlespace New Radars ? The China Electronic Technology Group Corporation (CETC) has recently stated that it’s SLC-7 radar is capable of detecting a radar cross section (RCS) target of just 0.05m2at ranges in excess of 450km (280 miles/225nm) with a probability of detection (Pd) of 80%. Now if you think that is good, the statement goes on to say that the SLC-7 is better than Green Pine Block-B, the EL/M-2080S phased array system by Elta that is praised by a number of nations. So how does CETC know, one wonders? Furthermore CETC claims detection and tracking of ballistic missiles with a RCS of just 0.01m2at more than 300km with a Pdof 90%. Whilst we known that the figures given relate to an L-band (NATO D-band) radar, we do not know the whole picture but lets put the RCS values into some sort of context. My (open source) database tells me that only I-band radars are capable of detecting 0.01m2targets at any significant range, and that D-band radars have difficulty in detecting 0.15m2 targets much beyond 220km. So what has CETC done to achieve such good results in their latest version of the SLC-7? Whatever, it is suggested that the claims should not be ignored, because Chinese radar industry has consistently produced improved systems over the last decade and surprised many in so doing, including China’s own technology reporters, some of whom appear to have difficulty in keeping up. AESA & GaN There is much going on in the US of A where plans are in hand to upgrade a number of in-service radars with Gallium Nitride (GaN) components because they offer: faster switching frequencies, with lower switching losses, in smaller packages, with higher power densities yet require less cooling. If you wish to know more the Texas Instruments website is a good starting point http://www.ti.com/power-management/gan/overview.html. Meanwhile the price of transmit / receiver modules (TRMs), used in active electronic scanned arrays, continues to fall with improvements in ongoing production processes and the AESA array approach offers significant advantages over passive electronic scanned array (PESA) solutions. Some of the radars that will or are already benefitting include the latest variant of Lockheed Martin’s truck-mounted AN/TPS-77 being prepared for Latvia and Raytheon’s new three-element 360º sensing AN/MPQ-65(V) where Poland may be one of the first to benefit. Concurrently Raytheon is also boosting the detection range and sensitivity of its TPY-2 with GaN components and in this case Saudi Arabia might be the first customer. http://aviationweek.com/defense/raytheon-boosting-performance-tpy-2-radar |