The AN/APG-79 is a variant of an

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 developed for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

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 ad ...

and

Boeing EA-18G Growler The Boeing EA-18G Growler is an American carrier-based electronic warfare aircraft, a specialized version of the two-seat F/A-18F Super Hornet. The EA-18G replaced the Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowlers in service with the United States Navy. The ...

aircraft, providing a high level of aircrew

situational awareness Situational awareness or situation awareness (SA) is the perception of environmental elements and events with respect to time or space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their future status. An alternative definition is tha ...

. The beam of the AESA radar provides fast track updates and multi-target tracking capability. The APG-79 AESA uses transmit/receive (TR) modules populated with

Gallium arsenide Gallium arsenide (GaAs) is a III-V direct band gap semiconductor with a zinc blende crystal structure. Gallium arsenide is used in the manufacture of devices such as microwave frequency integrated circuits, monolithic microwave integrated c ...

Monolithic microwave integrated circuit Monolithic microwave integrated circuit, or MMIC (sometimes pronounced "mimic"), is a type of integrated circuit (IC) device that operates at microwave frequencies (300 MHz to 300 GHz). These devices typically perform functions such as ...

s. In the F/A-18E/F, the radar is installed in a slide-out nose rack to facilitate maintenance. The APG-79 features an entirely solid-state antenna construction, which improves reliability, durability, and reduces the cost compared to a traditional radar system. The radar has a range of up to 150 km (80 nm) and multi-target tracking capabilities. The APG-79 is compatible with current F/A-18 weapon loads and enables aircrew to fire weapons such as 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 employ ...

, and simultaneously guide several missiles to several targets widely spaced in azimuth, elevation or range. FA-18_Super_Hornet_VX-9_with_AESA_radar

The APG-79 radar completed formal operational evaluation (OPEVAL) testing in December 2006. As of January 2007, the radar was installed in 28 aircraft; some aircraft were experiencing software problems but that issue was expected to be resolved by the end of fiscal year 2007. As of July 2008,

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 capitali ...

had delivered 100 APG-79 sets to the United States Navy; on 3 June 2008, the Navy received the first APG-79-equipped

. The Navy expects to order approximately 437 production radars. In January 2013, the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E) disclosed a long history of problems for the APG-79 radar in initial operational testing. In December 2020, Raytheon offered AN/APG-79 for retrofitting the F/A-18 C/D. In July 2021 the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through c ...

selected AN/APG-79(V)4 with

gallium nitride Gallium nitride () is a binary III/ V direct bandgap semiconductor commonly used in blue light-emitting diodes since the 1990s. The compound is a very hard material that has a Wurtzite crystal structure. Its wide band gap of 3.4 eV affords ...

(GaN) transmitters to upgrade their fleet of F/A-18 fighters. The new radar was flight-tested in May 2022.David Donald
AESA Radar for ‘Classic’ Hornet Fighter Makes First Flight
Aviation International News (May 11, 2022) The APG-79B4 version is slated to be installed inverted on the B-52 during its Commercial Engine Replacement Program (CERP) In 2022 Malaysia chose the APG-79(V)4 for an

F/A-18C/D Hornet The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twin-engine, supersonic, carrier-capable, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft (hence the F/A designation). Designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part ...

upgrade and the newly developed FA-50 Golden Eagle

References

External links

Raytheon products website
{{DEFAULTSORT:AN APG-79 Aircraft radars Military electronics of the United States Radars of the United States Air Force Raytheon Company products Military equipment introduced in the 2000s

See also

References

External links