Самолеты ДРЛО

The APY-9 radar features an active electronically scanned array, which adds electronic scanning to the mechanical rotation of the radar in its radome.

 

Mini AWACS and Mini JSTARS

Meanwhile, less wealthy nations will have to settle for aircraft platforms. There is a growing world market for such aircraft in two distinct size brackets — the medium size airliner size such as the Boeing 737 and the small business jet size such as the Gulfstream V.
In its own national security interest, the US rarely exports fighter aircraft or missiles with the latest capabilities, preferring to release platforms fitted for older weapons (eg: Sparrow missiles, rather than the latest AMRAAM) and ‘second rate’ or ‘downrated’ sensors and other systems. The policy maintains the US capability edge, without the need for constant reinvestment to develop greater capabilities and ‘leap frog’ ahead of allies who have just acquired the current state-of-the-art. The policy also generates economies of scale and revenue for the US aerospace industry.

 

In the early 1990s, the Ericsson company developed the PS-890 ERIEYE air surveillance radar system for the Swedish Air Force. The radar consists of two fixed, back-to-back, electronically scanning radars, in an eight metre long bar, mounted above the spine of the aircraft. The radar alone weighs 1,300 kilograms and each array scans a 120 degree arc. The system therefore covers only 240 degrees.
The platform can be any twin engine business jet. The mission crew consists of at least three (a Tactical Coordinator, an EW operator and an intercept operator) but up to five mission crew can be carried.
The Swedish Air Force requirement was originally conceived as a ‘gap filler’. Sweden is a small, compact country with a totally defensive posture and an extensive Integrated Air Defence System (IADS), based on a network of land-based radars. The AEW aircraft were to be launched to cover any ‘holes’ in the system caused by enemy attacks on radar sites. The Swedes have since realised the benefits of the greater detection range and flexibility of airborne radar as opposed to surface based radar.
AEW is coming to be seen as a useful complement to surface radar.

There are two versions of the system. In the Airborne Surveillance/Ground Control (ASGC) version the aircraft is just a radar platform, acting as a reporting unit only - transmitting its radar picture to a ground station by tactical datalink. The ground station does all data processing and fighter controlling. This version is just an AEW platform and it suited the Swedish requirement for a substitute radar to cover gaps in the national Air Defence Ground Environment (ADGE).60 In the Air
Surveillance/Airborne Control (ASAC) version, the aircraft performs the full AEW&C role, acting as a flying Control and Reporting Unit (CRU). This version suits foreign customers looking for a more autonomous system