Deliveries of new ECRS Mk2 sensor will start next year.
Industry partners Hensoldt and Indra have launched live test activities with the ECRS Mk1 radar that will equip Eurofighter combat aircraft for Germany and Spain from next year.
Announcing the development on 5 June, the Euroradar consortium-member companies state that the active electronically scanned array (AESA) is now being “stimulated with live targets of opportunity and live co-operative targets to simulate real scenarios and to enable maturation of the radar software”.
“First results demonstrate the advantages in robustness and performance of the new radar hardware and software architecture to the operator,” the companies say.
“This positive outcome constitutes a strong confirmation of the choice [made] for the enhanced ECRS Mk1 radar subsystems decided in 2024 by the customers”, they add. Marking a revision to a contract approved in 2020, that activity will lead to the future availability of ‘Step 2’ capabilities, following the delivery and integration of sensors produced in an initial Step 1 standard.
“This major step toward the delivery of ECRS Mk1 to Germany and Spain in 2027 is the result of an uninterrupted commitment of the industry partners and a strong support of the customers,” notes Falko Firl, Hensoldt’s head of Eurofighter radar. The programme will deliver “first-class air combat capabilities”, he adds.
Indra Eurofighter programme director Monica Perez Fernandez adds that the new sensor will “support the aircraft’s air superiority in the years ahead”.
The radar programme partners describe the AESA array as to be capable of conducting “advanced air-to-air, high-resolution air-to-ground as well as both passive and active electronic warfare capabilities” once in service.
Berlin’s initial radars will be fitted on its Tranche 4 Eurofighters being acquired via its 38-unit Project Quadriga deal, but it has previously outlined a plan to also upgrade its earlier in-service examples with the sensor. Spain, meanwhile, will use the new radar to equip 45 of the combat aircraft being procured via its Halcon I and II deals.
Leonardo UK is separately working to deliver an ECRS Mk2 radar for use by the Royal Air Force’s Tranche 3 production-standard Eurofighter Typhoons. Also involving integration partner BAE Systems, that effort is due to deliver operational capability starting by 2030.
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