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The AN/APG-63 and AN/APG-70 are a family of all-weather multimode
radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
systems designed by
Hughes Aircraft The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting p ...
(later
Raytheon Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitaliza ...
) for the
F-15 Eagle The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas's ...
air superiority fighter. These
X band The X band is the designation for a band of frequencies in the microwave radio region of the electromagnetic spectrum. In some cases, such as in communication engineering, the frequency range of the X band is rather indefinitely set at approxim ...
pulse-Doppler radar A pulse-Doppler radar is a radar system that determines the range to a target using pulse-timing techniques, and uses the Doppler effect of the returned signal to determine the target object's velocity. It combines the features of pulse radars an ...
systems are designed for both air-air and air-ground missions; they are able to look up at high-flying targets and down at low-flying targets without being confused by ground clutter. The systems can detect and track aircraft and small high-speed targets at distances beyond visual range down to close range, and at altitudes down to treetop level. The radar feeds target information into the aircraft's central computer for effective weapons delivery. For close-in dogfights, the radar automatically acquires enemy aircraft and projects this information onto the cockpit
head-up display A head-up display, or heads-up display, also known as a HUD (), is any transparent display that presents data without requiring users to look away from their usual viewpoints. The origin of the name stems from a pilot being able to view informa ...
. The name is assigned from the Army Navy Joint Electronics Type Designation System.


AN/APG-63

The APG-63 was developed in the early 1970s and has been operational since 1973, and was installed on all F-15A/Bs. In 1979, it received a major upgrade and became the first airborne radar to incorporate a software programmable signal processor (PSP), and the PSP allowed the system to be modified to accommodate new modes and weapons through software reprogramming rather than by hardware retrofit. The APG-63 with PSP is one of the most important features that distinguishes earlier F-15 A/Bs from the F-15 C/Ds fitted with PSP, and with the exception of the final 43 (which are equipped with APG-70), all F-15 C/Ds are equipped with APG-63 with PSP. The APG-63 series is no longer in production but remains in service. Almost 1,000 APG-63s had been delivered when production ended in 1986. About 700 are still operational in F-15As, Bs, and early model Cs and Ds operated by the
U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...
,
Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...
, and the air forces of
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, and
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
. They are also fitted to the
Lockheed P-3 Orion The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner.Office of Air and Marine Air and Marine Operations (AMO) is a federal law enforcement component within U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). AMO's mission is to protect the American people and na ...
.


AN/APG-63(V)1

The APG-63(V)1 radar is a 1990s reliability/maintainability hardware redesign which also provided significant mode growth opportunities. It was designed to replace outmoded APG-63 radars installed in F-15C/D aircraft models, providing improved performance and a tenfold increase in reliability. The new radar is able to track 14 targets simultaneously while being able to simultaneously attack 6 of those. Raytheon delivered 180 APG-63(V)1 radar systems to the U.S. Air Force (4 of which have since been lost to crashes), and is on contract to deliver an additional 40 radars to the
Republic of Korea Air Force The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF; ko, 대한민국 공군; RR: ''Daehanminguk Gong-gun''), also known as the ROK Air Force or South Korean Air Force, is the aerial warfare service branch of South Korea, operating under the Ministry of N ...
for the F-15K Slam Eagle.


AN/APG-63(V)2

The APG-63(V)2
Active electronically scanned array An active electronically scanned array (AESA) is a type of phased array antenna, which is a computer-controlled array antenna in which the beam of radio waves can be electronically steered to point in different directions without moving the an ...
(AESA) radar has been retrofitted to 18 U.S. Air Force F-15C aircraft. This upgrade includes most of the new hardware from the APG-63(V)1, but adds an AESA to provide increased pilot situational awareness. The AESA radar has an exceptionally agile beam, providing nearly instantaneous track updates and enhanced multi-target tracking capability. The APG-63(V)2 is compatible with current F-15C weapon loads and enables pilots to take full advantage of the
AIM-120 AMRAAM The AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM (pronounced ), is an American beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) capable of all-weather day-and-night operations. It is 7 inches (18 cm) in diameter, and employs ...
's capabilities, simultaneously initiating guidance for multiple missiles to several targets widely spaced in azimuth, elevation, or range.


AN/APG-63(V)3

The APG-63(V)3 radar is a more modern variant of the APG-63(V)2, applying the same AESA technology utilized in Raytheon's APG-79. The (V)3 is currently being retrofitted into F-15C/D and deployed in
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
's new F-15SG aircraft and Saudi Arabia's new F-15SA aircraft. Raytheon delivered the first prototype APG-63(V)3 system in June 2006. The company started work on an initial production order in October 2007.


AN/APG-64

AN/APG-64 was a development of AN/APG-63. It did not enter service.


AN/APG-70

The APG-70 was a 1980s redesign of the APG-63 for greater reliability and easier maintenance. Additionally, gate array technology enabled the APG-70 to incorporate new modes with enhanced operational capabilities. To reduce production costs, many of the upgraded radar's modules are common with the F/A-18's APG-73 radar, while the computers / processors share an 85% commonality with that of the F-14's APG-71 radar. APG-70 systems were originally installed on later model F-15C/D aircraft, but have since been replaced on those aircraft by the APG-63(V)1. As with the basic APG-63, the APG-70 is no longer in production; but were in service on the
F-15E Strike Eagle The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15E Strike Eagle is an American all-weather multirole strike fighter derived from the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. The F-15E was designed in the 1980s for long-range, high-speed interdiction without rely ...
, the Israeli F-15I and the Saudi F-15S. Also, as with APG-63, APG-70 also comes in two versions, both have identical air-to-air capabilities, but slightly different air-to-ground capabilities: APG-70 on F-15Is and F-15Ss exported to foreign customers has lower performance in that the resolution of Doppler Beam Sharpening (DBS) / Mapping / Synthetic Aparture Radar (SAR) modes for the APG-70 on F-15E of USAF were at least three times better than that of the APG-70 on F-15I and F-15S. From 2017, the APG-70s on Israeli F-15Is were planned to be removed and replaced with the APG-82(V)1.


AN/APG-82(V)1

The AN/APG-82(V)1 combines the processor of the APG-79 used on the
Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet The Boeing F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet are twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole fighter aircraft variants based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The F/A-18E single-seat and F/A-18F tandem-seat variants are larger and more adv ...
with the antenna of the APG-63(V)3 AESA from the F-15C for the
F-15E The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15E Strike Eagle is an American all-weather multirole strike fighter derived from the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. The F-15E was designed in the 1980s for long-range, high-speed interdiction without rel ...
. The new radar also includes a new cooling system and Radio Frequency Tunable Filters (RFTF). RFTF is designed to enable the radar and the electronic warfare hardware (jamming) to operate simultaneously without degrading each other. The new radar is currently being installed in the F-15E under the Radar Modernization Program (RMP). In 2009, the proposed APG-63(V)4 radar was designated APG-82(V)1. From 2017, Israel selected the APG-82(V)1 to install in its F-15Is. In late October 2019 the US
Defense Security Cooperation Agency The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), as part of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), provides financial and technical assistance, transfer of defense matériel, training and services to allies, and promotes military-to-milit ...
approved a possible sale to Japan of up to 103 APG-82(v)1 radars for the upgrade of 98
Mitsubishi F-15J The Mitsubishi F-15J/DJ Eagle is a twin-engine, all-weather air superiority fighter based on the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle in use by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF). The F-15J was produced under license by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries ...
s to a "Japanese Super Interceptor" (JSI) configuration. In 2019 Boeing selected AN/APG-82(V)1 for the
B-52H Stratofortress The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air ...
radar modernization program.Vivienne Machi
Raytheon Wins Contract to Provide New AESA Radars to B-52 Aircraft
Defense Daily (July 11, 2019)


AN/APQ-180

The APQ-180 is a derivative of the APG-70 radar, designed for installation on the AC-130U gunship aircraft (Rockwell/Boeing modification). It uses a modified gimbaling scheme for the
planar array Planar is an adjective meaning "relating to a plane (geometry)". Planar may also refer to: Science and technology * Planar (computer graphics), computer graphics pixel information from several bitplanes * Planar (transmission line technologies), ...
, and an upgraded analog signal processor unit, and incorporates several enhanced (and new) air-to-ground modes.


AN/AWG-20

AN/AWG-20 is the Armament Control System used in conjunction with F-15 radars.


AN/AWG-27

AN/AWG-27 is Programmable Armament Control System developed from earlier AWG-20 for use in conjunction with F-15 radars.


See also

*
List of radars A radar is an electronic system used to determine and detect the range of target and maps various types of targets.This is a list of radars. Argentina Australia Brazil Egypt Europe India Military Airborne *LCA MMR - 3D advanced, ligh ...


References


External links


Raytheon products websitePrint Page - McDonnell-Douglas F-15 Avionics
{{DEFAULTSORT:AN APG-63 Aircraft radars Raytheon Company products Radars of the United States Air Force Military radars of the United States Military equipment introduced in the 1970s