Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems is set make to make a number of strategic moves against rival Raytheon in the growing worldwide market for active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars.
The two companies currently split the US market for airborne tactical fighter radars, with Northrop the supplier for Lockheed Martin's F-22 and F-35 and Raytheon the supplier for Boeing's F-15, F/A-18E/F and EA-18G. That roughly equitable balance is about to be challenged for the first time since the Joint Strike Fighter downselect in 2001.
The first step for Northrop will be an attempt in October to usurp Raytheon's position as sole supplier for radar technology on the Boeing F-15. The US Air Force has received proposals from both companies to upgrade about 200 F-15Es with AESA. A decision is expected in October.
"We're constantly looking at market adjacencies. The F-15 is a market adjacency," says Jim Pitts, president of Northrop's electronic systems sector.
AESA technology has fast become a key competitive discriminator for tactical aircraft, with countries such as India, Japan and Singapore seeking access to the technology as part of any future fighter purchase.
Northrop is basing its proposal for the F-15E radar upgrades contract on a derivation of the APG-81 developed for the F-35 Lightning II JSF. It was previously thought that Northrop would offer the Lockheed F-22's APG-77 radar, but its lack of anti-tampering software for export customers shifted Northrop to the JSF system, Pitts say.
Raytheon has equipped the F-15E fleet with the APG-63(V)1 radar. The company will offer the air force the APG-79 radar for the Block II F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and the EA-18G Growler.
Boeing is managing the competition for the air force, and claims no allegiance to their long-term supplier Raytheon. "They both have their strengths and weaknesses," says Chris Chadwick, Boeing's vice-president and general manager for Global Strike Systems. "Northrop's a great radar house and they can leverage the development they have in the F-35."
In India, Northrop is supporting Lockheed's campaign to tailor an F-16 for India's pending requirement for 126 fighters. The F-16 model could be all-new or largely based on the F-16 Block 60, which features Northrop's APG-80 AESA. A less-expensive option also could involve selling the F-16I sold to Israel, which includes Northrop's mechanically scanned radar, Pitts says. That option also may avoid export control issues, as the product has already been approved for export.
"My sense is the higher the technology the Indians go after, the more difficult it will be for export approval," Pitts says. "This all revolves around the India-US relationship, and if that solidifies a lot of good things can happen."
Another part of Northrop's long-term strategy is to focus on the air force's requirement for a next-generation long range strike aircraft by 2018 to introduce the next huge leaps in AESA technology: conformal load-bearing antennas and the use of radar as a directed energy weapon. The company has experimented with a technology called load-bearing structural arrays.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
