How indigenously developed AESA Radar will make IAF fighters more lethal?

AESA Radar: By the end of this year, IAF will demonstrate the use of indigenously developed Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar. The radar will be integrated with IAF fighters, thereby making them more lethal. 

Earlier, India was using primary radars on its fighters and indigenous airborne warning and control systems planes. 

Key Highlights:

1- The AESA radar is 95% indigenous and only one subsystem is imported.

2- The AESA radar can track 50 targets in the sky at a range of over 100 km and can engage four of them simultaneously.

3- AESA radar will be integrated with all Tejas Mark I A fighters and future twin-engine AMCA fighters.

4- The radar will be mounted on the radar cone of Su-30 MKI aircraft and carrier-based MiG-29 K fighters.

5- India joined the league of nations having an indigenous force-multiplier that is integral to electronic warfare, long-range missiles, and long-distance, precision-guided ammunition.

6- Only the United States, European Union, Israel and China have this radar capability. 

Of the total 83 IAF Tejas Mark I A fighters, the first 16 will be fitted with Israeli ELM 2052 AESA radars and the remaining 67 will be fitted with the indigenously developed Uttam AESA radar. 

AESA radar has been tested on two Tejas fighters as well as Hawker Siddeley 800 executive jet for over 250 hours. It will be demonstrated in a flight by the end of this year with a force multiplier ready for production.

About AESA Radar

Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar is a multimode, solid-state active phased array fire control radar that can be adapted for various types of fighter class of aircraft.

The radar features include wideband RF front end, ultra-low antenna side lobes, frequency and waveform agility, jammer suppression, Low Probability of Intercept and Non-cooperative Target Recognition. 

It is capable of tracking multiple targets with high accuracy suitable for firing missiles with interleaved Air to Air, Air to Ground and Air to Sea modes for all-terrain operation.

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