Over the years, the original 'radar picket' role has morphed into AEW and control (AEW&C) and, most recently, battlespace management.
At the time of writing, Chinese, Indian, Israeli, Russian, Swedish and US industries are all involved in the technology and it is with their activities that this feature concerns itself.
US efforts centre on the Boeing E-3 Sentry, the Boeing 737 AEW&C, the Boeing E-767 and the Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye aircraft.
Of these, the Hawkeye is something of a hybrid as it is carrier capable and is the primary AEW asset of the French and US navies. With this said, land-based Hawkeyes are operated by the air arms of Egypt, Japan, Mexico, Singapore and Taiwan.
The Erieye radar system, is an Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&C) developed by Saab Microwave Systems (formerly Ericsson Microwave Systems) of Sweden. It is based on the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA). The Erieye is used on a variety of aircraft platforms, such as the Brazilian Embraer R-99 or EMB-145. It has recently been implemented on the Saab 2000 aircraft. The Erieye Ground Interface Segment (EGIS; not to be confused with the Aegis combat system) is a major component of the software used by the Erieye system. The radar provides 360 degree coverage and has an instrumental range of 450km and detection range of 350 km in a dense hostile electronic warfare environment — in heavy radar clutter and at low target altitudes. In addition to this, the radar is also capable of identifying friends or foes, and has a sea surveillance mode. The Erieye system has full interoperability with NATO air defence command and control systems. Sweden has loaned two of these systems to Greece, while they are still owned by the Swedish Air Force. SAAB signed an 8 billion krona provisional contract to supply 6 of these systems to Pakistan, which was finalized in June 2006. Pakistan Air force had rejected the longer-ranged E-2C Hawkeye offer as it uses PESA radar, whereas ERIEYE is comparatively shorter ranged, but has the more advanced AESA radar (Pakistan Navy has however separated its paths from the air force & have opted for E2C Hawkeye to be mounted on its P3C Orion aircraft). Recently, Royal Thai Air Force signed the contact to order a Erieye system equipped on Saab 340 and has the option to order another system. This order is a part of Gripen order.
Of these, the Mexican aircraft are equipped with the UHF-band (300 MHz to 3 GHz) Lockheed Martin AN/APS-125 radar, while those flown by Singapore are fitted with the UHF-band Lockheed Martin AN/APS-138.
All other currently operational E-2s are equipped with the UHF-band Lockheed Martin AN/APS-145 sensor, a radar that is also installed aboard a percentage of the US Customs and Border Protection service's fleet of P-3 AEW&C aircraft. Currently, Northrop Grumman continues to promote the E-2 as a land-based AEW&C platform.
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