Mast mounted MMW radar most likely... whether it's AESA or not, who knows.
Z-19 armed recon helicopter
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Mast mounted MMW radar most likely... whether it's AESA or not, who knows.
plawolf
Lieutenant General
MMW describes the operating frequency (usually Ku in this case), much like the more commonly used S, L or X bands for fighter, SAM and missile radars.
For the intended purpose, MMW frequency is an almost certainty.
What is far more interesting, and unexpected, is that the shape of the radar antenna revealed looks to be AESA rather than the more common conventional antennas uses in established attack helicopters like the Longbow.
Much like how use of AESA allows fighter radars to have significant advantages over legacy radars operation on the same frequency, AESA MMW radars should also enjoy similar advantages over older MMW radars using legacy antennas.
Yes, no doubt that an AESA MMW radar would be superior to an older antennae MMW equivalent
I just wasn't sure if the radar in question would be an AESA or if it may be PESA. It definitely does look like an ESA of some sort though.
plawolf
Lieutenant General
Given the vast number of AESA radars being developed and fielded in China, against the maybe one PESA that had a very limited production run before being replaced by an AESA one on the J10, I really don't think the question of AESA vs PESA should really reasonably come up any more when talking about new ESA Chinese radars.
The history, expertise, performance and economies of scale are all firmly (if not overwhelmingly) stacked in favour of AESAs.
The only reason to go PESA is on cost and technical difficulty grounds.
With so many AESA types under its belt already, I honestly think at this point in time, it will be harder and more high risk asking the main Chinese radar institutions to develop a PESA radar since they have so much less experience with that technology compared to AESA.
In terms of cost, economies of scale matter massively for chips. The more you make, the lower unit cost.
Given the large number of AESA systems in production compared to none confirmed to still be in production for PESA, its entirely possible economies of scale has managed to knock Chinese AESA chips down to a comparable, if not lower unit cost compared to the simpler PESA ones.
I generally agree with your logic, but in the absence of any official disclosures or even substantive rumours regarding whether it's AESA or PESA, I think it would be fairest to say that Z-19's mast radar appears to be an ESA of some sort, and may be active but with no significant evidence to suggest either way as of yet.
I guess with the Z19 doing the spotting and guidance of a radar guided HJ10 is one way of overcoming the problem of a Z10 with under powered engines. A previous Kiowa and Apache set up, till the Z10 gets more powerful engines.
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