Northrop Grumman began flight testing of its new APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) on the latest F-16V Viper variant this week at Edwards AFB, Calif., the company announced. “The beginning of flight testing is a major milestone for SABR that will lead to game-changing mission advantages for the warfighter,” company airborne C4ISR vice president Mike Hinkey said in a release. The SABR Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar is a key component of the F-16V configuration, which is available as upgrade to existing F-16s or for new-build aircraft. The APG-83 “provides fifth generation fighter radar capabilities to the F-16” at an affordable price, said Hinkey, and has already been selected by Taiwan as part of its ongoing F-16 upgrade. A pair of legacy F-16s have already been retrofit with the APG-83 at Edwards to support testing for Taiwan. The company has delivered 14 APG-83s to Lockheed Martin since last December and plans to deliver the first of 144 units for international customers this year.
The U.K. and the U.S. will continue to enjoy access to the ports, airfield, and workshops at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for at least another century, under a deal inked between the U.K. and Mauritius May 22.