Raytheon announced that its Advanced Combat Radar, or RACR, has completed a series of flight trials on an Air Force F-16 at Edwards AFB, Calif. The active electronically scanned array radar system executed a range of air-to-air and air-to-ground modes, stated the company. “Successfully flying RACR on an F-16 is another critical step in demonstrating how we’ve optimized our AESA technology for F-16 customers,” said Jim Hvizd, Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems’ vice president for international business development. RACR is a company-funded project. The company said it completed the system’s development in 24 months. “Raytheon’s AESA technology brings unparalleled capability and reliability to the F-16 at an acquisition cost comparable to the old mechanically scanned radars,” said Brian MacDonald, RACR program manager. Northrop Grumman is also offering an AESA system for the F-16 called the Scaleable Agile Beam Radar.
In the face of Chinese war plans to disrupt U.S. command-and-control networks in the event of a conflict, the Air Force needs to focus less on its “connect everything” efforts and prepare its combat aviators to fight without a constant connection to higher-ups, according to a new report from AFA’s…
