Raytheon is actively engaged in discussions with potential customers for its PhantomStrike active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, as it also looks to ensure its access to a key radar ingredient.
PhantomStrike is a low-cost, 68kg (150lb) AESA set designed for smaller aircraft and unmanned combat aircraft, according to Bryan Rosselli, president of Advanced Products & Solutions at Raytheon, a unit of RTX.
Rosselli notes that the company already has a contract with Korea Aerospace Industries to use PhantomStrike on the FA-50 light combat aircraft.
“We’re having many, many discussions this week with potential customers,” says Rosselli, speaking with reporters at an RTX briefing.
In addition to being affordable compared with conventional AESA sets, he says the air-cooled system requires little in the way of “plumbing” that make the installation expensive. Moreover, PhantomStrike can be sold through a direct commercial sale, as opposed to the more cumbersome Foreign Military Sales process.
The system will equip 36 FA-50PLs on order for the Polish air force.
Speaking more generally about Raytheon’s radar business, Rosselli says that threats continue to evolve, requiring combat aircraft to “look further, shoot further”.
As such, the company’s radar antennas are increasingly based on gallium nitride, or GaN, compared with gallium arsenide previously. The use of GaN allows “more power out of the front end” without major changes to an aircraft.
The challenge with gallium, however, is that 98% of the world’s production is controlled by China, making it highly susceptible to trade restrictions.
Asked about this issue, Rosselli says that the international community is working to address it.
“We’ve been looking at different ways to continue to partner with the international community,” he says. “We definitely are significant users, and that’s an importance piece in our overarching vertical integration with the supply chain.”
He adds that there are “robust plans” in place to address the issue, and that diversifying the supply base is critical.
