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PDF THINK TANK: ANALYST
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@ Dark Angel
You need to post the antenna diameter of both radars for them to stand in comparison for range.
Example:
Very advanced AESA radars can have as little range as 15~30km, e.g. AESA radar of AMRAAM 120D. It is a very capable radar no doubt, but very small antenna diameter means less detection range. Radars on Su30 have huge ranges because of large antenna and not necessarily because of best PESA tech (although everyone must admit that russion Zhuk and Israeli Elta radars are extremely high tech radars). You cannot just say hands-down that Elta is better since it has larger range. It might be that Elta just had bigger antenna.
You need provide us antenna diameter for both to complete your hypothesis.
@ duhastmish
AESA is so much sought after these days because of 4 main reasons (and several others which you can find out on your own).
1. LPI (Low-Probability-Intercept) ... meaning its extremely unlikely that F22 equipped with AESA will get detected just because of its own radar transmissions. For stealth or even semi-stealth (rafale, Eurofighter etc) LPI radar is a must, otherwise all cost that went into Stealth characteristics is moot. This also means that it is ECM and jamming resistant as well.
2. Multi Mode Simultaneous Scanning ... meaning the array can be partitioned on runtime to carry out different scanning/tracking tasks at different frequencies using different number of LRU/AESA-Elements at any given time. To get maximum range, you can always use entire array collectively in a single mode. (This is the major difference between AESA and PESA).
3. Non-Mechanical Directionality ... meaning you can search and track in an area of almost 120 degrees without moving array at all. When mechanical equipment is used, it can increase AESA detection to almost 270~300 degrees which is a huge advantage if someone is trying to shoot high off bore sight shots even at BVR ranges.
4. Extreme serviceability ... most radars have 200~400 hours MTBF ... while AESA has this in excess of thousand hours due to solid state electronics. It also facilitates repair of antenna since all elements in array are similar LRU (line replaceable units) and just be plucked out and plucked in to accomplish the task.
AESA rules ... but its quite complex technology, just getting into mainstream.
Regards,
Sapper
Nice Sapper, all true with one minor caveat not all AESA radars are low probability of intercept (LPI) to qualify the first side lobe must be smaller than the main lobe by at least -50db.
Edit: number 3 is true but..
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