JL-10A
Encyclopedia
The JL-10A airborne radar
is a highly digitized pulse-Doppler radar
with slotted planar array
developed for the People's Liberation Army Air Force
(PLAAF) as a replacement for the older Type 232H radar
currently employed by the Chinese air force. The radar
is built to MIL-STD-1553
standard so it is compatible with western electronics and weaponry. Originally, the radar
is capable of simultaneously tracking 10 targets (later to be upgraded to 15) and engaging 2 (later to be upgraded to 6) of the 10 tracked when using semi-active radar homing
air-to-air missile
s, or 4 of the 10 tracked when using active radar homing
air-to-air missile
s.
Although the radar
has the terrain following and terrain avoidance capabilities, they are rarely used, instead, it is compatible with navigational pods such as the Chinese Blue Sky
low altitude navigation pod that enable the aircraft to have these two capabilities. The reason for using navigational pod with terrain following / avoidance radar in conjunction with JL-10A is to have a dedicated terrain following / avoidance mode purely for low level flight, while the fire control modes are continuous and separated from navigational modes such terrain following /avoidance, so that JL-10A would constantly stay at fire control modes instead of switching between terrain following / avoidance modes and other modes of operation. Unlike the much more advanced electronically scanned phased array
airborne radar
s with each scan lasts only millisecond
s, the JL-10A is a slotted planar array
radar
with each scan last from several second
s to a dozen second
s or greater, switching between different operational modes would take too long and thus deemed unacceptable under intense combat situations, so it would be far better to stay in the same operational mode to avoid any interruption under these situations. Reportedly, the terrain following / avoidance technology of JL-10A was developed from those originally obtained from captured terrain following radars from downed A-6 Intruder
and General Dynamics F-111
during the Vietnam War
.
According to information finally released in 2006 by China, the fire control technology of JL10A was partially based on AWG-9 of F-14 Tomcat
. At least one complete set of AWG-9 was obtained from Iran
in the 1980s, and China
attempted to reverse engineer the American system. However, the Chinese was so technologically behind that it could neither completely decode the embedded software and nor produce the microelectronics needed. It was not until late 1990s, more than a decade later for Chinese technologies to mature enough to have a relatively complete understanding the detailed design of AWG-9, and by this time, identical copy of the American system was considered inefficient because the 1960s electronics and analog computer
technology were obsolete despite the advanced design principle / philosophy. As a result, the JL-10A adopted solid state electronics and fully digitized computer technology instead. China, however, still faced great technological gaps in the late 1990's which had limited its capability to produce a system that matches AWG-9 on equal terms, resulting in the number of targets JL-10A can simultaneously tracked and engaged are still significantly lower than that of AWG-9, which is able to simultaneously track 24 targets and engaging 6 of the 24 tracked. In comparison, JL-10A can only simultaneously track 15 targets and engage 6 of the tracked. Due to the same reason, the range of JL-10A is also much shorter than that of AWG-9: in comparison to the 300 + km range of AWG-9, the range of JL-10A is only 104 km. Other technologies benefited from the AWG-9 included the compatibility with electro-optics such as IRST. Similar to the American AWG-9, JL-10A is part of a larger airborn fire control system that integrade other sensors such as IRST, and the Chinese system is designated as AMFCS, short for Airborne Multi-targets Fire Control System, which works exactly with the identical principles of similar system on F-14 Tomcat, from which AMFCS is developed from. AMFCS is developed by CLETRI, the developer of JL-10A, and the system has already been installed on J-10
and JH-7A Flying Leopard
.
In 2001, JL-10A achieved a 32:1 DBS (Doppler beam sharpening) capability, but it still lags behind the 48:1 DBS capability of AN/APG-66
, and it was not several years later when the JL-10A was finally upgraded with 64:1 DBS capability like that of AN/APG-68
. Around the same time, JL-10A was also upgraded with the capability to simultaneously engage 15 targets and engage 6 of the 15 tracked. By 2004, SAR
capability was incorporated, and inverse SAR
(ISAR) capability is reportedly under development.
The radar has already been tested and successfully installed on JH-7A Flying Leopard
fighter-bombers and is capable of launching a scope of weapons including the as the C-802 anti-ship missile
and the Russia
n Kh-31
. The JL-10A will be fitted on the Chinese J-10
s and Chinese/Pakistani FC-1
s upon customer's requests.
Specification:
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
is a highly digitized pulse-Doppler radar
Pulse-doppler radar
Pulse-Doppler is a 4D radar system capable of detecting both target 3D location as well as measuring radial velocity . It uses the Doppler effect to avoid overloading computers and operators as well as to reduce power consumption...
with slotted planar array
Planar array
In telecommunications and radar, a planar array is an antenna in which all of the elements, both active and parasitic, are in one plane. A planar array provides a large aperture and may be used for directional beam control by varying the relative phase of each element...
developed for the People's Liberation Army Air Force
People's Liberation Army Air Force
The People's Liberation Army Air Force is the aviation branch of the People's Liberation Army, the military of the People's Republic of China...
(PLAAF) as a replacement for the older Type 232H radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
currently employed by the Chinese air force. The radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
is built to MIL-STD-1553
MIL-STD-1553
MIL-STD-1553 is a military standard published by the United States Department of Defense that defines the mechanical, electrical, and functional characteristics of a serial data bus. It was originally designed for use with military avionics, but has also become commonly used in spacecraft on-board...
standard so it is compatible with western electronics and weaponry. Originally, the radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
is capable of simultaneously tracking 10 targets (later to be upgraded to 15) and engaging 2 (later to be upgraded to 6) of the 10 tracked when using semi-active radar homing
Semi-active radar homing
Semi-active radar homing, or SARH, is a common type of missile guidance system, perhaps the most common type for longer-range air-to-air and surface-to-air missile systems. The name refers to the fact that the missile itself is only a passive detector of a radar signal – provided by an external ...
air-to-air missile
Air-to-air missile
An air-to-air missile is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying another aircraft. AAMs are typically powered by one or more rocket motors, usually solid fuelled but sometimes liquid fuelled...
s, or 4 of the 10 tracked when using active radar homing
Active radar homing
Active radar homing is a missile guidance method in which a guided missile contains a radar transceiver and the electronics necessary for it to find and track its target autonomously...
air-to-air missile
Air-to-air missile
An air-to-air missile is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying another aircraft. AAMs are typically powered by one or more rocket motors, usually solid fuelled but sometimes liquid fuelled...
s.
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
has the terrain following and terrain avoidance capabilities, they are rarely used, instead, it is compatible with navigational pods such as the Chinese Blue Sky
Blue Sky navigation pod
The Blue Sky navigation pod is an airborne navigation / targeting pod designed to provide aircraft with all weather / night attack capabilities. It was first revealed to the public at 1998 Zhuhai Air Show, and it is designed by CLETRI, or more commonly known as the 607th Institute...
low altitude navigation pod that enable the aircraft to have these two capabilities. The reason for using navigational pod with terrain following / avoidance radar in conjunction with JL-10A is to have a dedicated terrain following / avoidance mode purely for low level flight, while the fire control modes are continuous and separated from navigational modes such terrain following /avoidance, so that JL-10A would constantly stay at fire control modes instead of switching between terrain following / avoidance modes and other modes of operation. Unlike the much more advanced electronically scanned phased array
Phased array
In wave theory, a phased array is an array of antennas in which the relative phases of the respective signals feeding the antennas are varied in such a way that the effective radiation pattern of the array is reinforced in a desired direction and suppressed in undesired directions.An antenna array...
airborne radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
s with each scan lasts only millisecond
Millisecond
A millisecond is a thousandth of a second.10 milliseconds are called a centisecond....
s, the JL-10A is a slotted planar array
Planar array
In telecommunications and radar, a planar array is an antenna in which all of the elements, both active and parasitic, are in one plane. A planar array provides a large aperture and may be used for directional beam control by varying the relative phase of each element...
radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
with each scan last from several second
Second
The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock....
s to a dozen second
Second
The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock....
s or greater, switching between different operational modes would take too long and thus deemed unacceptable under intense combat situations, so it would be far better to stay in the same operational mode to avoid any interruption under these situations. Reportedly, the terrain following / avoidance technology of JL-10A was developed from those originally obtained from captured terrain following radars from downed A-6 Intruder
A-6 Intruder
The Grumman A-6 Intruder was an American, twin jet-engine, mid-wing attack aircraft built by Grumman Aerospace. In service with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps between 1963 and 1997, the Intruder was designed as an all-weather medium attack aircraft to replace the piston-engined A-1 Skyraider...
and General Dynamics F-111
General Dynamics F-111
The General Dynamics F-111 "Aardvark" was a medium-range interdictor and tactical strike aircraft that also filled the roles of strategic bomber, reconnaissance, and electronic warfare in its various versions. Developed in the 1960s by General Dynamics, it first entered service in 1967 with the...
during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
According to information finally released in 2006 by China, the fire control technology of JL10A was partially based on AWG-9 of F-14 Tomcat
F-14 Tomcat
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental program following the collapse of the F-111B project...
. At least one complete set of AWG-9 was obtained from Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
in the 1980s, and China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
attempted to reverse engineer the American system. However, the Chinese was so technologically behind that it could neither completely decode the embedded software and nor produce the microelectronics needed. It was not until late 1990s, more than a decade later for Chinese technologies to mature enough to have a relatively complete understanding the detailed design of AWG-9, and by this time, identical copy of the American system was considered inefficient because the 1960s electronics and analog computer
Analog computer
An analog computer is a form of computer that uses the continuously-changeable aspects of physical phenomena such as electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic quantities to model the problem being solved...
technology were obsolete despite the advanced design principle / philosophy. As a result, the JL-10A adopted solid state electronics and fully digitized computer technology instead. China, however, still faced great technological gaps in the late 1990's which had limited its capability to produce a system that matches AWG-9 on equal terms, resulting in the number of targets JL-10A can simultaneously tracked and engaged are still significantly lower than that of AWG-9, which is able to simultaneously track 24 targets and engaging 6 of the 24 tracked. In comparison, JL-10A can only simultaneously track 15 targets and engage 6 of the tracked. Due to the same reason, the range of JL-10A is also much shorter than that of AWG-9: in comparison to the 300 + km range of AWG-9, the range of JL-10A is only 104 km. Other technologies benefited from the AWG-9 included the compatibility with electro-optics such as IRST. Similar to the American AWG-9, JL-10A is part of a larger airborn fire control system that integrade other sensors such as IRST, and the Chinese system is designated as AMFCS, short for Airborne Multi-targets Fire Control System, which works exactly with the identical principles of similar system on F-14 Tomcat, from which AMFCS is developed from. AMFCS is developed by CLETRI, the developer of JL-10A, and the system has already been installed on J-10
Chengdu J-10
The Chengdu J-10 is a multirole fighter aircraft designed and produced by the People's Republic of China's Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation for the People's Liberation Army Air Force...
and JH-7A Flying Leopard
Xian JH-7
The Xian JH-7 ; NATO reporting name Flounder), also known as the FBC-1 Flying Leopard, is a tandem two-seat, twin-engine fighter-bomber in service with the People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force , and the People's Liberation Army Air Force...
.
In 2001, JL-10A achieved a 32:1 DBS (Doppler beam sharpening) capability, but it still lags behind the 48:1 DBS capability of AN/APG-66
AN/APG-66
The AN/APG-66 radar is a solid state medium range Pulse-doppler radar designed by Westinghouse for use in the F-16 Fighting Falcon and in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's C-550 Cessna Citation, US Navy P-3 Orion, and Piper PA-42 Cheyenne II's as well as the Small Aerostat Surveillance...
, and it was not several years later when the JL-10A was finally upgraded with 64:1 DBS capability like that of AN/APG-68
AN/APG-68
The AN/APG-68 radar is a long range Pulse-doppler radar designed by Westinghouse to replace AN/APG-66 radar in the F-16 Fighting Falcon...
. Around the same time, JL-10A was also upgraded with the capability to simultaneously engage 15 targets and engage 6 of the 15 tracked. By 2004, SAR
Synthetic aperture radar
Synthetic-aperture radar is a form of radar whose defining characteristic is its use of relative motion between an antenna and its target region to provide distinctive long-term coherent-signal variations that are exploited to obtain finer spatial resolution than is possible with conventional...
capability was incorporated, and inverse SAR
Synthetic aperture radar
Synthetic-aperture radar is a form of radar whose defining characteristic is its use of relative motion between an antenna and its target region to provide distinctive long-term coherent-signal variations that are exploited to obtain finer spatial resolution than is possible with conventional...
(ISAR) capability is reportedly under development.
The radar has already been tested and successfully installed on JH-7A Flying Leopard
Xian JH-7
The Xian JH-7 ; NATO reporting name Flounder), also known as the FBC-1 Flying Leopard, is a tandem two-seat, twin-engine fighter-bomber in service with the People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force , and the People's Liberation Army Air Force...
fighter-bombers and is capable of launching a scope of weapons including the as the C-802 anti-ship missile
Anti-ship missile
Anti-ship missiles are guided missiles that are designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming type, many use a combination of inertial guidance and radar homing...
and the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Kh-31
Kh-31
The Kh-31 is a Russian air-to-surface missile carried by aircraft such as the MiG-29 or Su-27. It is a sea skimming cruise missile with a range of or more and capable of Mach 3.5, the first supersonic anti-ship missile that could be launched by tactical aircraft.There are several variants, it is...
. The JL-10A will be fitted on the Chinese J-10
Chengdu J-10
The Chengdu J-10 is a multirole fighter aircraft designed and produced by the People's Republic of China's Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation for the People's Liberation Army Air Force...
s and Chinese/Pakistani FC-1
JF-17 Thunder
The PAC JF-17 Thunder , or CAC FC-1 Xiaolong , is a light-weight, single-engine, multi-role combat aircraft developed jointly by the Chengdu Aircraft Industries Corporation of China, the Pakistan Air Force and the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex...
s upon customer's requests.
Specification:
- Frequency: X band
- Maximum detection range: 104 km
- Maximum look-up tracking range: 80 km
- Maximum look-down tracking range: 54 km
- Maximum look-up engagement range: 40 km
- Maximum look-down engagement range: 32 km
- Total modes of operation: 11
- Sector of scan: +/- 60 degrees
- Maximum targets tracked: 15
- Maximum targets engaged: 6
- Developer: CLETRI (607th Institute)