Type
Airborne Fire Control Radar (FCR).
Description
The KLJ-7 Fire Control Radar (FCR), also referred to as Type 1478, employs a mechanically-scanned, phased-array antenna and is the main radar set for the Chengdu Aircraft Industries/Pakistan Aeronautical Complex FC-1/JF-17 fighter aircraft. A derivative of the KLJ-7, and likely employing a larger diameter array, the KLJ-10/J-10A, is believed to have been installed in the Chengdu J-10 fighter aircraft.In terms of development, the J-7 is reportedly similar in basic design to Phazotron N010 Zhuk family of radars; both Phazotron NIIR and rival radar house NIIP have worked closely in the past with Chinese radar design bureaux and provided technical assistance as well as operational models of Russia-made radar sets that were used as benchmarks in the process of Chinese firms developing their own designs. Nanjing have also reportedly drawn on the Galileo Avionica/Finmeccanica Grifo and the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Elta-2032 in developing their own radar designs. While the basic configuration of the J-7 may be similar to that of the Zhuk family, Nanjing utilises Chinese-made electronic components, multi-layered circuit boards, etc.The J-7 has multiple modes, both Beyond Visual Range (BVR) and close-in air-to-air modes, ground surveillance and a robust anti-jamming capability, according to Chinese sources. The radar can reportedly manage up to 40 targets, monitor up to 10 of them in Track-While-Scan (TWS) mode and can engage two targets simultaneously at BVR. The detection range for targets with an radar-cross section of up to 3 square metres is 75 km look-up, or 35 km in look-down mode.
