Raytheon has begun test flights of its compact PhantomStrike radar, which features an active electronically scanned array (AESA) antenna and gallium nitride (GaN) technology. Most significantly, the manufacturer claims that PhantomStrike, which has already been ordered by Poland, brings all the benefits of an AESA antenna at a much lower price point than other radars in its class. This, combined with its modest dimensions and mass, makes it very suitable for advanced drones, like the U.S. Air Force’s new Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones, as well as other platforms.
Raytheon announced today that it had completed a first test flight of the PhantomStrike radar in Ontario, California, aboard its Multi-Program Testbed aircraft. This platform is a highly modified Boeing 727 airliner used for various test duties and carries the nickname Voodoo. “PhantomStrike successfully tracked several airborne targets and accurately mapped the terrain,” Raytheon said in a press release.
At less than 150 pounds, PhantomStrike also weighs around half that of rival modern active AESA radars, meaning it can be installed in smaller platforms, including high-performance unmanned aircraft.
The manufacturer describes the PhantomStrike as “a first-of-its-kind fully air-cooled, fire-control radar that’s designed to provide long-range threat detection, tracking, and targeting.” Having the PhantomStrike air-cooled is a big deal in itself, with this approach doing away with all the cooling infrastructure required for a liquid-cooled radar, helping bring down size, weight, and complexity, and making for easier integration on many platforms.
Raytheon also says that it can deliver the product “at nearly half the cost of a typical fire-control radar.” Finding data on the costs of equivalent AESA radars is not straightforward, but it should be noted that, in 2022, Northrop Grumman was awarded an $88.24-million contract to build 31 of its AN/APG-83 radars, also known as the Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR), to be retrofitted into F-16s. That equates to around $2.8 million per radar, including installation and various ancillary costs.
As an AESA radar, PhantomStrike offers a significant boost in capabilities over similarly sized mechanically scanned arrays, including extended detection and tracking ranges, improved target discrimination and identification, and the ability to pick up low-flying targets with reduced radar signatures, such as cruise missiles and drones. Without the need to physically move around a mechanically steered radar dish, AESA radars can rapidly scan huge volumes of airspace. Furthermore, AESA technology is more resistant to jamming and is much more reliable than its mechanically scanned predecessor.
In PhantomStrike’s AESA array, Raytheon also makes use of its proprietary compact high-reliability integrated receiver/exciter processor, or CHIRP. It is also among a growing group of AESA radars that feature gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors. Compared with previous technology, GaN generates less heat and has the capacity to operate at higher voltages, meaning that output power can be increased, while component size can be reduced. Overall, using GaN helps ensure that PhantomStrike can be smaller, lighter, and have lower power demands than equivalent performing radars.
While AESA radars have been around for some time now, they have typically been more expensive than less-capable mechanically scanned arrays. With PhantomStrike, Raytheon is attempting to reverse that trend.
“PhantomStrike can make enhanced situational awareness available to a broader set of our partners and allies — offering unparalleled performance and potential U.S. weapons integration — at an affordable price,” said Bryan Rosselli, president of Advanced Products and Solutions at Raytheon.
Not only does Raytheon promise that PhantomStrike will be cheaper than other AESA options, but it’s designed to be integrated in a wide range of platforms. Not only is PhantomStrike suitable for fighters and other fixed-wing combat aircraft, but it can be installed in drones, helicopters, and even ground-based towers. Warships would be one of various other possible applications, and it should be noted that, in addition to more traditional surveillance and tracking functions, AESAs also have potential for electronic warfare roles and communications.
In terms of helicopters, the U.S. Army is notably looking to test an AESA radar on its AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, using a standard Apache weapons pylon. If successful, the radar could find its way onto other Army platforms, both rotary and fixed-wing, the service has said.
In a promotional video for the radar, Raytheon shows ‘loyal wingman’ or CCA drones fitted with PhantomStrike, with the combination of low cost, light weight, and small dimensions making it suitable for installation in platforms of this kind, perhaps even in attritable ones.
In the past, it has been expected that, when working as part of a larger networked crewed-uncrewed team, only a portion of the Air Force’s CCA drones would actually be outfitted to carry radars or other key sensors, such as IRSTs. In such a scenario, other drones could conceivably be configured purely as weapons trucks, receiving targeting information from other platforms, which would help reduce cost and complexity of the drone formation overall. Other configurations, such as electronic warfare, electronic intelligence, and communications fusion and relay nodes, could also make up a CCA mission package. The radar-equipped CCAs could scout ahead of crewed fighters to significantly extend their sensor reach while enhancing lethality and survivability.
Access to lower cost but capable radars optimized for the CCA role would have major benefits. Having more radar-toting CCAs would mean that fighter crews would have more tactical options and wouldn’t necessarily need to use their own radars as much. Doing so can potentially reveal their presence to the adversary, which is of particular relevance when stealth platforms are involved. The availability of a compact and more affordable AESA radar, like PhantomStrike, could make the Air Force more willing to risk losing its radar-equipped CCAs in more hazardous situations, as well. But above all else, it would help get the price down of radar-equipped CCAs.
However, the first confirmed application for the PhantomStrike will be the Polish Air Force’s fleet of FA-50 light combat aircraft, which you can read more about here.
The Polish FA-50 is an ideal case study for the ability to rapidly integrate PhantomStrike. After all, it was only in 2023 that Warsaw signed an agreement with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) to buy 48 FA-50s, as part of a huge arms transfer from South Korea to Poland.
To speed up the deliveries, Poland is receiving the FA-50s in two discrete configurations. The first 12 FA-50s, in Block 10 standard, were delivered to Poland in mid-2023. The next batch of 36 aircraft will be in the more advanced Block 20 configuration, including the PhantomStrike radar, Sniper targeting pod, Link 16 datalink, and AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles. Deliveries of the Block 20 aircraft are due to begin this year.
Even before the appearance of PhantomStrike, there had been a growing number of smaller and lighter AESA radars on the market for aircraft applications. Indeed, the availability of these kinds of radars has seen them increasingly installed not only in combat aircraft but also refitted in contractor-operated aggressor aircraft. Examples here include the Israeli-made Elta EL/M-2052 fitted in Top Aces’ A-4N Skyhawks and F-16s, and also in Air USA’s BAE Hawks.
As we have discussed in the past, PhantomStrike also looks to be a suitable candidate for the Air Force’s plan to add an AESA radar to its X-62A test jet. Specifically, the service says it’s looking for an air-cooled radar, like PhantomStrike, but which would rule out Northrop Grumman’s AN/APG-83 SABR, a liquid-cooled design you can read more about here.
While Northrop Grumman has touted SABR as being relatively easy to integrate because it has an entirely self-contained liquid-cooling system that doesn’t need to be tied deeply into the host platform, the company also has described that system as being akin to a “very sophisticated car radiator,” something absent from PhantomStrike.
Overall, Raytheon’s PhantomStrike promises a lot in terms of providing high-end capabilities within a compact and low-cost package. The first test flights of the radar pave the way for it to be integrated in the Polish FA-50, and it will be interesting to see what other platforms — crewed and uncrewed — might also receive it in the future.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com