Chinese Radar Developments - KLJ series and others

[douglaxd]

TBF a lot of USMC legacy hornets are equipped with GaN radar, and the USN and Army have been using GaN.

 

[tphuang]

The "realest" lead China holds in military aviation.

Gen 1: GaA = India, Russia

Gen 2: GaN = US struggling to finalise and get mass production on, some European major players e.g. Leonardo, this material is dated in PLAAF

Gen 3: GaN on Si = mainstay in PLAAF

Gen 4: GaN on SiC = heard about for the last year, fielded on latest PLAAF/PLANAF fighters and probably heavy unmanned platforms.

PLA is literally 2 generations ahead of US in conventional phased array radar tech. Backend processing unknown but likely to be leading too since China basically lapped the world and ahead of the US in those peripheral technology fields.

Keep in mind that there is no such thing as just GaN. The most basic GaN is GaN-on-Si. Of course, there are higher and lower end of that. I think the cutting edge now is 90nm ICs.

 

[ougoah]

Keep in mind that there is no such thing as just GaN. The most basic GaN is GaN-on-Si. Of course, there are higher and lower end of that. I think the cutting edge now is 90nm ICs.

Quite right, I noticed this error earlier but couldn't be bothered correcting it. It's essentially 3 generations: GaA, GaN on Si and GaN on SiC.

 

[caudaceus]

The "realest" lead China holds in military aviation.

Gen 1: GaA = India, Russia

Gen 2: GaN = US struggling to finalise and get mass production on, some European major players e.g. Leonardo, this material is dated in PLAAF

Gen 3: GaN on Si = mainstay in PLAAF

Gen 4: GaN on SiC = heard about for the last year, fielded on latest PLAAF/PLANAF fighters and probably heavy unmanned platforms.

PLA is literally 2 generations ahead of US in conventional phased array radar tech. Backend processing unknown but likely to be leading too since China basically lapped the world and ahead of the US in those peripheral technology fields.

I thought JSDF was the first to use AESA?

 

[siegecrossbow]

I thought JSDF was the first to use AESA?

Technically true but the AESA on F-2 had some technical issues initially and after resolving them Japan hasn’t really made too much progress in the mean time. It is a bit similar to the situation with humanoid robots. They were in the clear lead in implementation in the early 2000s but squandered it.

 

[tphuang]

Japan was able get AESA radar developed because of its 2nd gen semiconductor technology back in 90s, but my impression was that it was having trouble with the other aspect of developing radar.

Even now, the main competition in 3rd and 4th generation semi material is between China and Japan. Which makes the continued export of high purity gallium into Japan quite puzzling to say the least. But yes, China's current lead or close follower position in numerous 3rd & 4th gen material is how it's been able to develop high power RF MMICs + the substrate and high voltage system needed for modern radar.

 

[siegecrossbow]

Japan was able get AESA radar developed because of its 2nd gen semiconductor technology back in 90s, but my impression was that it was having trouble with the other aspect of developing radar.

Even now, the main competition in 3rd and 4th generation semi material is between China and Japan. Which makes the continued export of high purity gallium into Japan quite puzzling to say the least. But yes, China's current lead or close follower position in numerous 3rd & 4th gen material is how it's been able to develop high power RF MMICs + the substrate and high voltage system needed for modern radar.

I thought that gallium for military purpose has been banned? If they go as far as banning fertilizers for Japanese military I don’t see how they can make this oversight…

 

[tphuang]

I thought that gallium for military purpose has been banned? If they go as far as banning fertilizers for Japanese military I don’t see how they can make this oversight…

I mean gallium for military purposes may be banned but Japanese labs are still using gallium for normal research purposes. Most of the 3rd and 4th gen semi development are entirely civilian driven for purposes like long range communications and such. Let’s see if the recent export control finally cuts off that spigot.

 

[siegecrossbow]

I mean gallium for military purposes may be banned but Japanese labs are still using gallium for normal research purposes. Most of the 3rd and 4th gen semi development are entirely civilian driven for purposes like long range communications and such. Let’s see if the recent export control finally cuts off that spigot.

If they are going into military research then technically they should be subject to bans. Really depends on how good China is at enforcing them.

 

[zyklon]

I mean gallium for military purposes may be banned but Japanese labs are still using gallium for normal research purposes. Most of the 3rd and 4th gen semi development are entirely civilian driven for purposes like long range communications and such. Let’s see if the recent export control finally cuts off that spigot.

If they are going into military research then technically they should be subject to bans. Really depends on how good China is at enforcing them.

Japan, in particular

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, produces a not insignificant quantity of refined gallium from recycling. So the Japanese are most likely relying on domestic gallium supply chains for defense R&D and production.