An aircraft integrated avionics specialist installs AESA radar on an F-16 Fighting Falcon at Duluth Air National Guard Base, Minnesota. Credit: U.S. Air National Guard photo by Audra Flanagan.

US Minnesota Air National Guard’s (ANG) 148th Fighter Wing (FW) has received new active electronical scanned array (AESA) radars for nine Block 50 F-16CM aircraft.

The new radars will allow F-16 Fighting Falcon pilots to easily identify targets both on land and in the air.

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This radar upgrade initiative was funded by the US Air Combat Command (ACC). The associated work commenced in early September and continue until December.

A team of technicians from 148th FW and Lockheed Martin were deployed to carry out the related work on a total of nine fighter jets.

148th FW avionics technician lead staff sergeant Scott Phillips said: “Each jet took approximately seven-days with technicians from both 148th FW and Lockheed Martin performing work.

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“We took apart the front end of the jet, removing the antenna, computer and all other old radar components, then Lockheed Martin technicians installed new radar components and performed operational checks.”

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Based at Duluth ANG Base in Minnesota, the 148th FW serves both as a Suppression/Destruction of Enemy Air Defence (SEAD/DEAD) and a North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Aerospace Control Alert-trained (ACA) flying unit.

It is one of the five F-16 SEAD/DEAD units in the US Air Force (USAF), while one of two SEAD/DEAD units in the ANG.

Apart from recent AESA upgrade, the F-16 fleet is also expected to receive various other structural and strengthening modifications under F-16 service life extension programme (SLEP) to continue supporting the USAF missions until mid-2040s. 

148th FW Weapons chief major Michael Kuzmuk said: “The AESA modernisation is the biggest improvement to the F-16 since it came off the assembly line. It allows us to see a much clearer picture of our targets in real-time.”