PLA AEW&C, SIGINT, EW and MPA thread

[plawolf]

Why would you have to make an AWACS radome round in this day and age? With the newest AESA radar designs, there are normally three arrays set in a trianglure configuration to give 360 coverage. Why then do you need to enclose the whole thing in a round and areodynamically inefficient casing? I
do not see any rEason why the casing cannot be made into any shape you want. The triangle design of the array hub is not a million miles away from the basic shape of a standard delta wing, so what's stopping you doing that? Even if you can't get that much lift out of the array, you should at the very least make it a hell of a lot less draggy than the current sourcer designs.

 

[Londo Molari]

An array strong enough has got to be pretty tall, and that's not something you can hide inside a wing. By itself it would rip right off, too much air resistance. The radome is the easiest way to make the entire thing aerodynamic. The radome probably provides some lift canceling out a part of its own weight.

 

[TerraN_EmpirE]

that's in older designs that used what could be called a "Flying saucer" Style. today a Number of new AWACS now called Airborne Early Warning and Control, use other styles of Arrays most resembling a elongated lozenge mounted along the upper structure of the Aircraft. like the Boeing Wedgetail 737 AEW&C, the Saab 340 AEW&C the Embraer R-99A, concept models of the DRDO AEW&CS. The IAI EL/M-2075 Phalcon system is mounted in a ball turret under the nose a second array in the tail and side mounted panels on the foreword hull of a boeing 707 in the Chilean Air force Condor system, and the Eitam system built on a G550 business class jet using a newer version of the same radar the EL/W-2085 sensor package has it's arrays mounted on the hull in a conformal style. So the dish does not need too be mounted in the same manor as the E3,E2, KJ 2000,A 50 style. a Number of these aircraft counter the weight of there array with a added set of airfoils others do not. I think the reason for the Dome on the KJ2000 is that the IL76 is such a cluttered structure with it's top mounted wing and under hanging jets that mounting the Array in the hull would get poor imaging. the Kj200 by contrast has it's radar mounted in in a lozenge array above the hull and in the hull because of the smoother Turboprop's configuration. remember the Airframe has it's own RCS and can cause interference.

 

[Londo Molari]

It is true that older slotted array (not phased array) radars used to rotate inside a dome, but that is not what I am talking about. Even the new designs that don't have to rotate, often use a dome, just like the Israeli Phalcon being sold to India. The ones you mentioned that don't have a dome also don't have true 360 degree coverage. For example the Saab only has 240 degree coverage on the left and right sides. You can try to fix this by putting an array in the nose (which is more expensive than the dome) but then you still miss the rear side of the aircraft.

 

[plawolf]

Well, here is an actual example of what I was talking about, as with AESA, radomes no longer need to be round.

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The concept air for the V22 Osprey AWACS design also shows a similar dish design.

There is no reason why the tip of the triangle could not be facing forward to reduce air resistance if that was a top concern. The choice of presenting a flat side forwards is more to do with having better control over the radar scanning direction.

 

[Deino]

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[asif iqbal]

I think China should also concentrate on a airborne battlefield and ground surveillance system and a electronic jamming aircraft, bit like the RAF Raytheon Sentinel and IAF Gulfstream G550 SEMA

 

[challenge]

most AWACS aircraft including the A-50U are able to track ground target.therefore it is logical to built dedicated ground surveillance aircraft.
report that during the chenchya conflict, russian may have using there A-50U to track ground target.

 

[i.e.]

Well, here is an actual example of what I was talking about, as with AESA, radomes no longer need to be round.

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The concept air for the V22 Osprey AWACS design also shows a similar dish design.

There is no reason why the tip of the triangle could not be facing forward to reduce air resistance if that was a top concern. The choice of presenting a flat side forwards is more to do with having better control over the radar scanning direction.

Think about the geometry of the dish for a 360 coverage.

the VT and HT will obscure the rear view, so the option is always to avoid placing an antenna facing directly rear ward.

for optimal coverage 360/3 = 120 deg would be enough for electronic steering of the beam.

so you really can only place the 3 antennas in an inverted triangle.

an inverted triange is not good for aero or stability or aeroelastics.

 

[Deino]

The first serial or operational machine ???