July 13, 2007:
The U.S. has had great success with its new AESA (Active Electronically
Scanned Array) (AESA) radars. These systems consists of thousands of tiny
radars that can be independently aimed in different directions. Many new uses
have been found for the smaller, airborne AESA radars now equipping many
American fighters. The latest uses are for electronic warfare. Not many details
about this are being released, for obvious reasons, but there has been a lot of
buzz about this in the trade journals over the last few years.
AESA has only been around for about three decades,
at least as a fielded device. The U.S. Aegis naval radar was one of the first
big successes. AESA radar made the JSTARS aircraft possible, enabling it to
locate vehicles moving on the ground. A new AESA radar for JSTARS enables them
to spot smaller, man sized, objects. AESA type radars are also popular for their ability deal with lots of targets
simultaneously. JSTARS radar has now been tweaked so it can spot ships and
boats at sea.
AESA is also being used as a communications device,
because it can transmit, and receive, large quantities of information. More
powerful airborne AESA radars can even zap warheads and guidance systems on
missiles, or other aircraft. Chinese
espionage efforts have long concentrated on American AESA technology, and that
has resulted in the enormous growth of Chinese AESA capabilities in a short
time.
