Status in U.S. AESA fighter radar and development trends

Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) technology, with its unprecedented degree of operational flexibility, is on the verge of revolutionising the performance of modern radar systems. AESA technology is particularly advantageous in fighter radars due to the overall superiority in terms of performance, reliability and life cycle cost. In this paper, the history of fighter AESAs in U.S. is first explored. The current status and technological advances of U.S. fighter radar systems are described then. The paper ends on prediction of development trends in this field. With the development of device and packaging technology such as GaN MMIC, conformal radar, digital array radar, MIMO-architecture and integrated RF systems are anticipated trendsetters for future advancement.