German, Spanish Eurofighters will receive the world’s most capable fighter jet radar

[Zarvan]

Photo by Munnaf Joarder

European aerospace giant Airbus announced that German and Spanish Eurofighter fighter jet will be equipped with the world’s most capable fighter jet radar.

The company’s news release said the Airbus has been awarded a contract for the development, supply and integration of 115 Eurofighter ESCAN Radars for the German and Spanish Eurofighter fleet.

As noted by the company, it marks the so far largest order for the world’s most modern electronically scanned array radar, Captor-E. The contract signature followed the approval by both governments in recent weeks.

The contract foresees the delivery and integration of 110 Captor-E radars for Germany and an initial batch of 5 radars for Spain to be delivered by 2023. The new sensor will equip Tranche 2 and Tranche 3 Eurofighters as well as new aircraft. Whereas the Airbus sites in Manching, Germany and Getafe, Spain will act as overall integration Hub, the development and building of the radar will be subcontracted to a consortium under the leadership of Hensoldt and Indra and by participation of further Eurofighter partner companies.

“The contract for the Captor-E radar is a main achievement to equip Eurofighter with sensors that ensure todays dominance of the aircraft also in the threat scenarios of tomorrow”, said Dirk Hoke, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space. “With Eurofighter, Germany and Spain are investing in a strong backbone of European air defence and in the leading project of the European defence industry.”

Eurofighter Captor-E is the world’s most advanced electronically scanned array radar for fighter aircraft. The design of the front fuselage airframe allows Eurofighter to deliver the largest electronically scanned array for increased detection and tracking ranges, advanced Air-to-Surface capability and enhanced electronic protection measures. The large antenna surface also allows a wider field of regard than any other platform pushing the aircraft’s performance and guaranteeing its role as a valuable asset within the Future Combat Aircraft System environment.

The signed contract will also give an additional push to the export tenders Eurofighter is currently bidding for.

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[Salman876]

KLJ-7A has also range of 200km for 5m targets

 

[CAN_TR]

German Eurofighters can have alientech. still horrible combat readiness.

 

[Sabretooth]

German Eurofighters can have alientech. still horrible combat readiness.

Why though? Are they over-engineered like European cars?

 

[CAN_TR]

Why though? Are they over-engineered like European cars?

Only 39 out of 128 Eurofighters are combat ready.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1212711654099574787

 

[A.P. Richelieu]

Why though? Are they over-engineered like European cars?

Lack of spare parts but the figure 39 out of 128 is almost one and a half year old.
It was the readiness status during 2018.
The readiness status of German forces are now confidential, so no updates.
The Eurofighter had a problem with one specific spare part, when the vendor of that part was sold to another company. The new company was not on the qualified vendor list so even though it was the same production line, using the parts would violate policy, so aircraft needing this part was grounded. In a ”hot” situation, they might override the procedure.

 

[Philip the Arab]

I thought the most combat capable radar was the F-22s, or F-35s. No way these are better.

 

[A.P. Richelieu]

I thought the most combat capable radar was the F-22s, or F-35s. No way these are better.

They are now quite old, and there has been plenty of development happening since they were developed. Electronics are orders of magnitude better.
SAAB is working on a Gallium-Nitride based fighter radar on a contract from a US customer. That might be an even better radar than the Captor-E.