Raytheon Technologies is set to equip Korea Aerospace Industries’ FA-50 Light Combat Aircraft with the former’s PhantomStrike radar.
The product received approval to be exported as a Direct Commercial Sales product to KAI with assistance from the U.S. government, Raytheon Technologies announced from its Arlington, Virginia headquarters on Monday.
“Outfitting the FA-50 with the PhantomStrike radar upgrades the capability of a critical aircraft, providing unparalleled performance in a compact, affordable package all while keeping these jets fast, agile and easy to maintain,” said Annabel Flores, president of global spectrum dominance at Raytheon Technologies.
PhantomStrike is a fully air-cooled fire-control radar built for long-range threat detection, tracking and targeting. The compact active electronically scanned array radar is smaller and lighter than its predecessors and requires less power to function. It is compatible with a variety of platforms, such as light-attack and rotary-wing aircraft, uncrewed aerial vehicles and ground based towers.
To match the capability of modern AESA radars, PhantomStrike integrates Raytheon’s gallium nitride-powered array and its compact high-reliability integrated receiver/exciter processor. This combination reportedly enables digital beam forming and steering, multimode functionality and interleaved ground and air targeting.
Flores noted the evolving nature of battlefield threats. PhantomStrike, she said, allows KAI to leverage high-performance fire control radar capabilities able to operate with both U.S. and international weapons systems so FA-50 customers can maintain air dominance.
The radars will be produced in Forest, Mississippi and Tucson, Arizona as well as in Scotland. Raytheon UK will assist with the project, and deliveries are expected to begin in 2025.
