Raytheon provides radar warning receivers for U.S. Air Force’s newest tankers
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Raytheon Co., one of the world’s largest defense contractors, announced that it is providing 111 ALR-69A systems, including spares, to outfit the U.S. Air Force’s newest tanker, the KC-46 Pegasus.
According to a company news release, it will complete radar warning receiver deliveries by 2025 under the contract with Boeing.
The company’s website said the ALR-69A is the world’s first all-digital radar warning receiver. The 360-degree coverage system provides an affordable and effective solution for protection in the modern threat environment.
To date, 50 ALR-69A systems for the KC-46 have been delivered to Boeing.
“Today tankers fly closer to the fight than ever before,” said Stefan Baur, vice president of Raytheon Electronic Warfare Systems. “The all-digital ALR-69A receiver warns pilots faster and across greater distances so they can get their job done and return home safely.”
In 2018, the U.S. Air Force awarded Raytheon an IDIQ to outfit their fleet of tactical air and large body aircraft with ALR-69A. Since that award, ALR-69A has gone through significant enhancements, including frequency extensions that detect and identify threats across the spectrum. It is also installed on the U.S. Air Force C-130H and is currently being tested on the F-16.
The design of Raytheon’s ALR-69A allows cross-platform commonality, improved spectral and spatial coverage and easy integration with other ECM or radar systems. The ALR-69A design relies on many commercial off-the-shelf components, allowing for ready expansion or upgrade. The extensive use of COTS parts and digital circuitry also ensures affordability and reliability while it minimizes any risk of parts obsolescence and lowering life-cycle maintenance costs.
The 16-channel broadband receiver can easily be reconfigured to support future applications, and as converter technology continues to improve, users can boost response time and dynamic range by simply replacing a digital circuit card. Extra, pre-wired card slots enable interfaces to any electronic countermeasure or radar system.
