Raytheon's Net-Enabled APG-79 AESA Radar Completes Successful Live Fire Flight Tests of AMRAAM and JDAM

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051031/nem034.html?.v=28

Raytheon's Net-Enabled APG-79 AESA Radar Completes Successful Live Fire Flight
Tests of AMRAAM and JDAM

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Oct. 31, 2005 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company's APG- 79
AESA radar continues to move smoothly through its development milestones
following the successful completion this month of multiple live firing tests
using inert AMRAAM and JDAM weapons.

Both AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile) and JDAM (Joint Direct
Attack Munition) live fire tests were completed according to plan. Both
performed well within the operational specifications. These are critical
development milestones, as they test the end-to-end air-to-air missile delivery
sequence and end-to-end air-to-ground synthetic aperture (SAR) targeting
capabilities of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.

[...]

The JDAM "Smart Weapon" uses the APG-79 AESA radar to provide precise targeting
coordinates. The pilot uses a high resolution SAR (synthetic aperture radar)
image to identify the intended target. The target is designated from the image;
the target coordinates are passed to the JDAM weapon; the weapon is released and
flies under GPS navigation to impact, thus completing the kill chain. Prior to
the introduction of the APG-79 radar, it has only been possible for pre-mission
planned ground targets to be attacked. Now, with the Active Electronically
Scanned Array (AESA) APG-79, real time, time sensitive ground targets can be
identified and engaged.

[...]
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