CAESAR: demonstrating AESA capability option for Eurofighter Captor radar

The Euroradar consortium has developed a new antenna and associated hardware/software modifications which enable E-scan capability to be exploited by the existing Captor radar, while retaining all features and capabilities of the original system. The captor active electronically scanned array radar (CAESAR) upgrade package is accommodated within the Eurofighter Typhoon front fuselage and retains existing aircraft interfaces. The benefits of agile beam operation have been successfully demonstrated in two phases of flight trials, most recently on a Eurofighter Typhoon in early 2007. Most crucially, future advances in radar system supportability will benefit directly from experience on the CAESAR programme. (5 pages)