Northrop Grumman will provide the Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) for U.S. Air Force and Taiwan F-16 fighter jets, after winning a competition by Lockheed Martin looking to prolong the life of F-16 legacy aircraft with a radar upgrade program.
(F-16 Falcon. Photo, courtesy of Lockheed Martin.)
SABR, Northrop’s latest airborne fire control radar, is a multifunction active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, designed for fifth generation jets which will be retrofitted to the fourth generation F-16s. The radar is also scalable for integration into other aircraft.
Joseph Ensor, vice president and general manager of ISR and targeting systems at Northrop Grumman, said SABR should help the F-16 continue flying beyond 2025.
“The conclusion of the AESA radar competition marks the next chapter in the Fighting Falcon’s ongoing evolution – the F-16V,” said Roderick McLean, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin’s F-16/F-22 Integrated Fight Group. “This next generation radar will deliver unprecedented capabilities to the most widely used fourth generation fighter ever flown.”
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