Contract for Second Lot of F-15E AESA Radars: Raytheon announced it’s received the contract to build the second lot of APG-82(V)1 active electronically scanned array radars for the Air Force’s F-15E fleet. The company is scheduled to start delivering these Lot 2 low-rate initial production AESA units in February 2014, according to Raytheon’s Sept. 17 release. While Raytheon’s release did not provide the number of Lot 2 units, Boeing, the prime contractor for the Air Force’s F-15E Radar Modernization Program, has stated there’d be 10 units assembled during this production run. Raytheon began production of the six Lot 1 units in fall 2011. Under the RMP, Boeing is installing the Raytheon-supplied AESAs on the Strike Eagle fleet, replacing the aircraft’s existing APG-70 mechanically steered radar. The APG-82 is able to simultaneously detect, identify, and track multiple air and surface targets at longer ranges than the APG-70, according to Raytheon. Plus, it’s considered to be much more reliable.
The United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force has unveiled a new electronic warfare drone designed to fly with fighter jets into contested airspace, including alongside its fleet of F-35s. RAF says it plans to develop models that draw on the U.S. Air Force’s approach of mating unmanned systems with crewed platforms.