GRIFO radar: new results of high-resolution modes for an expert avionic radar for fighters

In the 90s, Galileo Avionica (GA Radar Systems Business Unit) has developed the GRIFO Radar, a multimode-multirole pulse Doppler radar, devoted to occupy an important role in the family of the radar for weapon release. In the last 15 years more than 400 units have been sold to five Air Forces, for more than 100,000 hours of operative flights. The need for the implementation of high-resolution modes, with seaborne targets identification for the Italian navy, pushed to the extension of the Grifo radar to high-resolution applications. With the new capability, making use of the deramp on receive technique, Grifo radar can now perform spot-SAR on ground patch as well as ISAR upon A/A and A/S target tracking ISAR. This paper describes the real-time results obtained during the last flight tests of the Grifo, newly upgraded with high-resolution modes, which were carried out in November and December 2008.