Euroradar CAPTOR

The Euroradar CAPTOR (formerly ECR-90) is a next generation mechanical multi-mode pulse doppler radar designed for the Eurofighter Typhoon.

The radar is produced by the Euroradar consortium and is a development of the BAE Systems Blue Vixen radar, developed for the BAE Sea Harrier. Euroradar is lead by SELEX Sensors and Airborne Systems in Edinburgh (formerly BAE Systems Avionics) and includes EADS and Indra. The ECR-90 was renamed CAPTOR as the project passed the production contract milestone.

Development

The selection of the radar had become a major stumbling block in the EFA project (what would become the Eurofighter Typhoon). Britain, Italy and Spain supported the Ferranti-led ECR-90, while Germany preferred the APG-65 based MSD2000 (a collaboration between Hughes, AEG and GEC). An agreement was reached after UK Defence Secretary Tom King assured his West German counterpart Gerhard Stoltenberg that the British government would underwrite the project and allow GEC to acquire Ferranti Defence Systems from its troubled parent. [cite news | first = Charles | last = Miller | title = Radar Deal Keeps Britain in Forefront of Airborne Technology | publisher = The Press Association Ltd.| date = 1990-05-08 | accessdate = 2006-11-28] Hughes sued GEC for $600 million for its role in the selection of the EFA and alleged that it used Hughes technology in the ECR-90 when it took over Ferranti. It later dropped this allegation and was awarded $23 million, the court judged that the MSD-2000 "had a real or substantial chance of succeeding had GEC not tortuously intervened... and had the companies, which were bound by the Collaboration Agreement, faithfully and diligently performed their continuing obligations thereunder to press and promote the case for MSD-2000." [cite news | title=Court finds GEC 'intervened' on behalf of onetime EFA rival Ferranti | work = Aerospace Daily | publisher = McGraw-Hill Inc. | page = 398 | date = 1994-03-15 | accessdate = 2006-11-28]

Each of the seven Eurofighter Development Aircraft (DA) have specific responsibilities in the test programme, Germany's DA5 and the UK's DA4 were involved in radar trials. A BAC 1-11 jet was also used for radar trials, the nose of the aircraft fitted with a Eurofighter radome.

The CAPTOR was designed for use with Beyond Visual Range Air to Air Missile (BVRAAM) and the Eurofighter will be fitted with the MBDA Meteor. Since the end of the Cold War the Eurofighter's mission has also moved from a primarily air-defence fighter with secondary ground-attack to a multirole aircraft. As such the radar's ground attack capabilities have been improved.

The CAPTOR radar, entering service now with the Eurofighter partner nations, will see action for at least two decades. However, work is already under way on its replacement. The Airborne Multirole Solid State Active Array Radar (AMSAR) another European collaborative project, is produced by the British/French/German GTDAR consortium. This organisation, originally (GEC-Thomson-DASA Airborne Radar) is now made up of SELEX, EADS and Thales. It is possible the radar will be ready for the Tranche 3 Typhoons or, failing that, may be incorporated in a future mid life update (MLU.)

In May 2007 Eurofighter Development Aircraft 5 made the first flight with the CAESAR (CAPTOR Active Electronically Scanning Array Radar) demonstrator system. CAESAR is based on the CAPTOR radar developed by the EuroRadar consortium which is in service on Eurofighter production aircraft. The consortium comprises the European radar system companies EADS (Germany), SELEX Sensors and Airborne Systems (UK), Galileo Avionica (Italy) and INDRA (Spain) [http://www.flug-revue.rotor.com/FRweek1.htm#E-Scan]

The new generation of radar introduces Active Electronically Scanning Array (AESA) technology which replaces mechanically steered antennas and high-power transmitters with an electronically steered array on the basis of transmit/receive modules. This array is made up of 1,425 transmit/receive modules which give the radar unprecedented versatility and reliability. [ [http://www.airpower.at/news06/0922_captor-e/index.html Ein neues Radar für den Eurofighter german] [http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.airpower.at%2Fnews06%2F0922_captor-e%2Findex.html&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=de&ie=UTF-8 Translation CAPTOR-E" ready for Tranche 3] ] This enables new mission capabilities for combat aircraft such as simultaneous radar functionalities, air surveillance, air-to-ground and weapon control.

ee also

*AI.24 Foxhunter

References

External links

* [http://www.eurofighter-typhoon.co.uk/Eurofighter/sensors.html Unofficial Eurofighter: Sensors]
* [http://www.flug-revue.rotor.com/frheft/FRHeft04/FRH0402/FR0402e.htm]