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Country of origin | Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom |
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Type | Captor-M: Solid-state, mechanically scanned array radar Captor-E: Active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar |
Frequency | X-band |
The Euroradar Captor is a next-generation mechanical multi-mode pulse Doppler radar designed for the Eurofighter Typhoon. Development of Captor led to the Airborne Multirole Solid State Active Array Radar (AMSAR) project which eventually produced the CAESAR (Captor Active Electronically Scanned Array Radar), now known as Captor-E.
This article has been translated from the article EuroRADAR CAPTOR in the German Wikipedia, and requires proofreading.(February 2024) |
In June 1985, discussions began amongst various concerns to sound out the possibility of cooperation for the EFA, the project that would later become the Eurofighter, radar. The United Kingdom chose Ferranti as the leading contract partner, Germany AEG-Telefunken and Italy FIAR. Spain, which had no radar experience, played only a minor role, [1] later selecting Eesa as the main contractor. Towards the end of June 1985, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain to develop a joint radar for the EFA. France had already indicated at the time that it intended to withdraw from the programme. The French company Thomson-CSF was thus faced with a dilemma, as it would have liked to participate in an EFA radar. [2] Therefore, in 1987, Thomson-CSF negotiated with Ferranti to secure a share of the work. Specifically, the travelling wave tube was to be supplied which was possibly the same one that was to be used in the Rafale. In March 1987, Ferranti and AEG sent their offers to Eurofighter GmbH. [3]
Ferranti presented its ECR-90, based on the Blue Vixen, as early as 1986, while AEG offered the MSD-2000 "Emerald", which was based on the AN/APG-65. [4] Ferranti's main argument was that a European fighter aircraft should also be equipped with a European radar. Ferranti had already been working with Thompson-CSF, Inisel and FIAR on the development of the radar since 1983. France withdrew with Thompson-CSF in June 1985, followed a year later by AEG. AEG wanted to offer a system based on the APG-65, as the company already had the production licence for this. There was still speculation as to whether Thorn-EMI would offer the AN/APG-68, but this did not end up happening. Both bidders submitted two-part offers: one that fully met the tender requirements and a reduced low-cost variant. Ferranti and FIAR offered the ECR-90 and the Super Vixen, AEG and GEC Marconi the MSD-2000 and the APG-65, but both high-tech offers were too expensive and the low-cost alternatives were deemed insufficient.
As a result, a new tender was launched. This time, the performance requirements were slimmed down and the manufacturers were also asked how the costs could be reduced. The requirements were also less stringent in order to fuel the inventive spirit of the engineers. [5] The two new tenders were submitted in February 1988: [6]
The radar software was to be programmed in Ada, as was the entire EFA software. [6] The US was rather critical of the required technology transfer for the MSD-2000 when it was negotiated in May 1988, [7] but nevertheless agreed to it in August of that year. The schedule now envisaged completing the first airworthy radars in 1992, as the first flight of the EFA was planned for 1991, and starting series production in 1996. Spain was now in favour of the MSD-2000, as the cost and timeframe seemed the most realistic. [8] After October 1988, the decision was made, [9] with Ferranti's ECR-90 winning the race but not being chosen.
Since Germany did not agree with the decision, German Defence Minister Gerhard Stoltenberg met with British Defence Secretary Tom King in mid-1989. [10] They agreed to commission a study into whether the MSD-2000 could be adapted to British requirements after all. At the same time, the UK Ministry of Defence launched a study into how the partner countries, excluding Germany, could develop their own radar for the EFA. [11] The MSD-2000 study was negative, but Germany still refused to give in on this issue. As no agreement could be reached after 18 months, the UK and Germany called on the industry to find a solution. In December 1989, Ferranti held talks with Telefunken System Technik (formerly AEG until Daimler took over the company) to co-operate on the ECR-90 and resolve the German resistance. At the same time, the industry warned politicians of rising costs due to the delays. Eurofighter GmbH then sent letters to all four partner countries and NETMA stating that all additional costs would be passed on to them. This was important as the EFA radar was to be awarded as a fixed-price contract and the companies involved were to be reimbursed for the delays. [12] At the beginning of 1990, GEC Marconi, which was working on the MSD-2000, swallowed up Ferranti, which was designing the ECR-90, a decision that was underwritten by the British government. [10] Ferranti's labs became the new GEC Ferranti in 1990, and then BAE Systems Avionics when GEC's various military electronics divisions - Ferranti, Marconi and Elliott Brothers - were merged. Plessey, which manufactured the EFA's missile detectors, was taken over by a consortium of GEC Marconi and Siemens. This signalled a relaxation on the radar front. [13] In early 1990, GEC-Ferranti was finally declared the winner of the EFA radar competition and awarded a £300m contract. In mid-1990, GEC-Ferranti negotiated with Ericsson to remove the company from the ECR-90 Euroradar consortium and use the Motorola 68020 processors of the MSD-2000 instead. In a comparison, its signal processing proved to be significantly more powerful. This in turn was seen as a problem by Germany, as the redesign of the ECR-90 meant that delays and further cost increases were unavoidable. [14]
Hughes sued GEC for $600 million for its role in the selection of the EFA and alleged that it used Hughes technology in the ECR-90 when it took over Ferranti. It later dropped this allegation and was awarded $23 million; the court judged that the MSD-2000 "had a real or substantial chance of succeeding had GEC not [tortiously] intervened ... and had the companies, which were bound by the Collaboration Agreement, faithfully and diligently performed their continuing obligations thereunder to press and promote the case for MSD-2000." [15]
Since these events, further mergers have taken place in the industry. Parts of BAE Systems Avionics were merged with Galileo Avionica to form SELEX Galileo in 2005 which in turn then merged with other Finmeccanica defence electronics companies in 2013 to create Selex ES (merged in turn in Finmeccanica, rebranded Leonardo since 2017). The development effort is now organized under the Euroradar consortium, consisting primarily of Selex ES, [16] as well as Airbus and Indra.
The ECR-90 was renamed CAPTOR when the project passed the production contract milestone. [17]
In 1993 a European research project was launched to create the Airborne Multirole Solid State Active Array Radar (AMSAR); it was run by the British-French-German GTDAR ("GEC-Thomson-DASA Airborne Radar") consortium (now Selex ES, Thales and Airbus respectively). [18] This evolved into the CAESAR (Captor Active Electronically Scanned Array Radar), now known as Captor-E active electronically scanned array. [18]
In May 2007, Eurofighter Development Aircraft 5 made the first flight with the a prototype of the Captor-E. [19] The Captor-E is based on the Captor radar currently in service on Eurofighter production aircraft. The new generation of radar is intended to replace the mechanically steered antennas and high-power transmitters used on current Eurofighter aircraft with an electronically steered array. This enables new mission capabilities for combat aircraft such as simultaneous radar functionalities, air surveillance, air-to-ground and weapon control. The new radar improves the effective air-to-air missile range of the aircraft and allows for faster and more accurate detection and tracking of multiple aircraft with lower life cycle costs. [19] In July 2010, it was reported that the Euroradar consortium made a formal offer to provide an AESA solution for the Eurofighter. The consortium plans to retain as much "back-end" equipment as possible while developing the new radar and also stated that the inclusion of an AESA radar was an important in securing orders from foreign nations. [19]
On 19 November 2014, at the Edinburgh office of Selex ES, the European consortium Eurofighter GmbH and the inter-governmental agency NETMA (NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency) signed a contract worth €1 billion to develop the electronically scanned digital antenna array Captor-E radar for the Typhoon. [20]
Characteristics of the antennas:
This article has been translated from the article EuroRADAR CAPTOR in the German Wikipedia, and requires proofreading.(February 2024) |
The CAPTOR was optimised for air combat with beyond visual range air-to-air missiles (BVRAAM) under strong enemy electronic countermeasures, resulting from the requirements of the Cold War. [24] [25] Since the end of the Cold War, the main focus of the Eurofighter has shifted from fighter to multi-role combat aircraft tasks. The ground attack capabilities of the radar were therefore further developed in this direction. The mechanical control system was selected in the initial phase of the Eurofighter project as the development risks were to be minimised. According to the project managers, the technology of a mechanically swivelled antenna were fully exploited in the CAPTOR. [26]
The radar consists of a mechanically controlled antenna made of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic with a diameter of 0.7 metres (2 ft 4 in). [25] [27] The antenna can be swivelled by ±60° in elevation and +-70° azimuth. Four high-precision samarium-cobalt servomotors with high torque are used to control the antenna in order to achieve high scanning speeds. [28] The motors can only move the planar antenna in elevation and azimuth angles while roll angles are compensated electronically by combined control in order to reduce weight. Due to the very high scanning speed for a mechanically swivelled antenna, the radar can also interleave different radar modes, which would only otherwise be possible with phased array antennas, albeit much faster. For example, air-to-air and air-to-ground modes can be combined in one scan pass. [28] [27] The accuracy is less than one milliradian in alignment and less than 10 metres (33 ft) in distance. [29]
The CAPTOR operates in the X-band from 8 to 12 hertz (GHz) (horizontally polarised) and has twice the transmission power of the AN/APG-65. [28] It automatically switches between low, medium and high pulse repetition rates. [25] These range from 1,000 to 200,000 pulses per second, with the main focus on medium pulse repetition rates. Friend or foe detection (IFF) is integrated into the radar unit and is normally fully automatic. The signal processing consists of 61 plug-in cards (shop replaceable items-SRI) and 6 line replaceable units. The modular design allows for easy repairs and upgrades. The built-in self-diagnostic capability indicates the defective SRI, which can be read out on the ground by a laptop without having to switch on the power supply. If the SRI is actually defective, it is replaced. [30] The software was written in Ada in accordance with the MIL STD 2167A standard. [27] The CAPTOR is the first NATO radar with three processing channels. The first channel is used for target search, the second for target tracking and identification and the third for localisation, classification and overcoming jamming as well as sidelobe suppression. [24] The entire system weighs 193 kilograms (425 lb) and the computers are cooled with both liquid and air. [24]
Due to the sensor fusion used in the Eurofighter Typhoon by means of the Attack and Identification System (AIS), the radar modes are normally selected automatically by the on-board computer; the CAPTOR is operated exclusively according to the VTAS principle (VTAS - Voice, Throttle and Stick). [31] [28] The general mode of operation of the radar is as follows: First, the radar transmits in 'Velocity Search' (VS) mode to detect approaching targets even in ground clutter. If targets are detected, the radar switches to 'range while search' (RWS) mode. The computer creates a track file and continues to work in 'track while scan' (TWS) mode while searching for new targets. The identity of the targets is then determined by NIS or NCTI and the threats are prioritised. Further modes such as Raid Assessment and Threat Assessment [25] are then applied if necessary. Further operating modes and capabilities are not listed in full:
571 aircraft fitted with this radar.
52 aircraft will eventually be fitted with this radar.
Over 150 aircraft should eventually be fitted with this radar, some retrofitted.
At least 40 aircraft will eventually be fitted with this radar, up to 160 aircraft (depending on Germany and the UK's decisions).
United Kingdom – Royal Air Force [60]
United Kingdom – Royal Air Force [60]
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