New Radar to Enhance European Air Power

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The German and Spanish Eurofighter combat aircraft will be equipped with new electronically-scanned (E-Scan) radar sets. Airbus has been contracted to develop, deliver, and integrate the systems.

The contract covers 110 of the radar sets for the Luftwaffe and an initial five sets for the Spanish Air Force from 2023. The value of the award made by the German and Spanish governments was not disclosed, although German sensor-house Hensoldt recently said it would receive EUR1.5 billion (USD1.7 billion) as lead for the project, according to janes.com.

Eurofighter Captor-E is an advanced electronically scanned array radar for fighter aircraft. The design of the front fuselage airframe allows Eurofighter to deliver the largest electronically scanned array for increased detection and tracking ranges, advanced Air-to-Surface capability and enhanced electronic protection measures. 

The large antenna surface also allows a wider field of regard than any other platform pushing the aircraft’s performance and guaranteeing its role as a valuable asset within the Future Combat Aircraft System environment, according to Airbus website.

With Eurofighter, Germany and Spain are investing in a strong backbone of European air defence and in the leading project of the European defense industry, according to the company.

Airbus will now subcontract the work to Germany’s Hensoldt as the lead contractor, with support from Spain’s Indra.