Raytheon upgrading South Korean FA-50 jets with PhantomStrike radar

Asia-Pacific, News, US May 20, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

U.S. defense firm Raytheon Technologies will upgrade South Korean company Korea Aerospace Industries’ FA-50 Light Combat Aircraft with the advanced PhantomStrike radar. The initial deliveries of the radar are expected in 2025.

Raytheon’s PhantomStrike is a fire-control radar that provides “long-range threat detection, tracking, and targeting”, the company statement highlighted. PhantomStrike radar was approved for export as a Direct Commercial Sales product to South Korean KAI.

According to Annabel Flores, president of Global Spectrum Dominance at Raytheon Technologies, “Outfitting the FA-50 with the PhantomStrike radar upgrades the capability of a critical aircraft, providing unparalleled performance in a compact, affordable package… All while keeping these jets fast, agile, and easy to maintain.”

Flores further added that “Threats on the battlefield always evolve, and PhantomStrike makes it possible for KAI to offer high-performance fire control radar capabilities that can integrate with U.S. and international weapon systems, so FA-50 customers maintain air dominance.”

The Raytheon Technologies statement highlighted that PhantomStrike combines two specialties of the company, “a gallium nitride-powered array and the compact high-reliability integrated receiver/exciter processor, or CHIRP, to match the capability of modern AESA radars”.

*^{Raytheon Intelligence & Space’s PhantomStrike radar integrated onto a light-attack aircraft. (Image Credit: Raytheon Technologies)}*

The upgrades of the radar provide capabilities including digital beam forming and steering, multimode functionality, and interleaved ground and air targeting, the statement added.

PhantomStrike is a first-of-its-kind, compact Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar that is smaller, lighter, and requires less power. It delivers the heavyweight performance needed for superior battlespace situational awareness.

The radar is designed for a wide range of platforms including light-attack aircraft, rotary-wing aircraft, uncrewed aerial vehicles, and ground-based towers. PhantomStrike’s open mission systems architecture design allows the radar to be easily upgraded, eliminating the need for maintenance and ensuring its enduring battlespace relevance for years to come.