welcome to military technology channel
what we are proposing can look a bit presumptuous and ambitious on paper the typhoon requirements
manager told ain but the foundation and foundation it builds on is one of unparalleled experience
we have filled this program with people who have worked together for a decade or two you
don't hear about people in the raf post for long but this is my 10th year as requirements manager
what we're doing here is pouring out that experience to enable
us to advance everything we've learned they are not all good lessons
some of these are difficult and painful lessons but those painful lessons will allow us to create
something that's ambitious and meet the timelines we talked about and deliver at the rate we want
the initial operational capability date is still subject to ministerial approval as part of that
contract process typhoon's requirements manager told ain our goal is to get the system into
service as early as possible so 2030 is very much a barrier if we can get it delivered early we will
the eurofighter program expects to fly the uk's new european common radar system mark
ii ecrs and k2 radar aboard the eurofighter test aircraft during the last quarter of 2023 leading
to initial operational capability ioc by 2030 dates reflect a slight slip at a time partners
expect the first flight of the year and expect a service date of 2025 to meet the finished timeline
finland's selection of the f-35 led to a slowdown in the ecrs mk2 program to meet the uk
funding time scale ecrsmk2 is an all-new active electronically scanned array aesa
radar for the tycoon incorporating enhanced electronic attack capabilities
it has no hardware similarities with the original typhoon capture radar
radar on the power supply front or with other aesa equipped cap3 variants ecrs mk 0 for kuwait
and qatar ecrs mk1 for germany and spain however it will display a common man machine interface
the new ecr snk 2 uses repositioning using a single rotary joint as found on the es05 raven
radar used in the saab gripen e f rather than the dual swatch plate array of the catherine
the use of a repositioner provides a much larger field of view than is possible with
conventional fix asa and does so without loss of performance at higher azimuth angles
this feature resulted in a large operational advantage allowing pilots to turn harder from
their targets in classic bvr engagements and making them much more vulnerable to retaliatory
missile fire while the new multifunction repositioner and array represent a very
clear revolutionary feature of the ecrs mk2 the entire radar is very advanced the boxes
are probably more important than the platters ross wilson chief radar engineer at leonardo observed
leonardo has produced six lri line replaceable items radar kits in addition to the radar
currently being prepared for delivery to bae systems at wharton and another for use as a backup
the first radar to fly was actually based on a multi-function antenna originally
built for the uk's bright adder tdp technology demonstration program as a ground-based test asset
the ecrs mk 2 is a natural development of the advanced radar targeting system arts
technology demonstrator intended to provide electronic attack capabilities for tornadoes
bright adder tdp evolved from the arts concept using a typhoon compliant form factor intended to
outperform the existing typhoon air-to-air radar it also offers electronic attack capabilities
radar has undergone extensive testing at leonardo's rooftop laboratory at crutol
in edinburgh and more radar sets will undergo testing there and at bae's radar test facility
long before the ecrs mk2 takes off on board the radar is being extensively modeled and tested in
synthetic environments and will be modified and adapted through the implementation of flexible
software and algorithms the selected test platform 355 zambian quacha construction number bs 116
is already on site at wharton vae systems which is undergoing preparations for its new role
plans call for delivery of the ecrs mk 2 radar prototype to warden by the end of the year
and a full system critical design review to be completed for the production radar
it will then complete the work funded under the long lead time activity
llta feet contract a strong financial case has been put forward for investment in the
production of ecrs and k2 and we await a decision from the uk government set at raf program insider
bae will deploy at least two test aircraft in the early stages of the flight test campaign and plans
call for two further assets to join later the radar may also fly in a large aircraft test site
perhaps a boeing excalibur test site being converted to support the isenki tempest slash
fcas sensor suite if funding permits the uk plans to field 40 eurofighter typhoons
equipped with ecrs and k2s representing the entire subfleet of raf trans3 aircraft although
trans-two aircraft could be equipped with new radars to increase the number if the number of
transferees is reduced between now and then it clearly as fires to get more ecrs mk 2s either
to complement some of the trench two aircraft or as part of a new typhoon top-up purchase
conditions for integrating the new radar will be made in the p4e software package
expected by the end of 2027 or 2028. it will introduce task-based management for the new radar
as well as for the current mechanically scanned radar allowing pilots to give the radar a task
and let it continue rather than having to for example change altitude manually originally
conceived as a uk program ecrs mk2 has attracted interest from further afield italy has signaled
its interest in joining the program and has joined the industry joint team as a
first step toward full participation while radar could also open up further export opportunities