Northrop Grumman and Air National Guard leaders celebrate the completion of SABR upgrades on F16s at the Andrews Air Force Base. Credit: Northrop Grumman Corporation.

Northrop Grumman and the US Air Force (USAF) have completed AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) upgrades on the Air National Guard’s (ANG) F-16 aircraft.

The completion of SABR’s installation will fulfil the US Northern Command Joint Emergent Operational Need (JEON) requirements for homeland defence.

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The AN/APG-83 on the ANG’s F-16 aircraft achieved full operational capability in 2020.

The radar further enhances the operational reliability and viability of the ANG’s F-16 aircraft, as well as delivers fifth-generation fighter radar capabilities to the pilots.

Following the latest upgrade, the SABR is currently active on 72 aircraft located at nine different bases of the US ANG.

Northrop Grumman SABR programme director Mark Rossi said: “The completion of these deliveries highlights Northrop Grumman’s continued commitment to rapidly field 5th generation radar capability to the fleet to counter and defeat increasingly sophisticated threats to our nation and its allies.

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“Through our continued partnership with the USAF, ANG and Air Force Reserve, we are providing enhanced radar capabilities with ongoing agile software developments that will keep pilots ahead of adversaries for years to come.”

According to the company, the newly installed APG-83 radar features an active electronically scanned array (AESA) fire-control radar to support the F-16 fighter aircraft with advanced capabilities.

The system features high-resolution, all-weather synthetic aperture radar mapping to provide a large surface image to the pilots for more accurate target identification and strike capabilities in comparison to the legacy systems.

Furthermore, the radar features increased speed, bandwidth and agility, which allows the fighter jet and its crew to conduct rapid long-range detection, tracking and identification of various targets.

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