Raytheon's F/A-18 AESA radar is moving into full-scale production following approval by the US Navy.

Raytheon's F/A-18 AESA radar is moving into full-scale production following approval by the US Navy. Following extensive review by the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisition), PMA-265 was granted authorization to enter into Full Rate Production for 437 next-generation APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars to. equip Super Hornet Block II and EA-18G aircraft. This major program milestone marks the end of a Low Rate Production (LRIP) period of 84 radars that began with delivery of the first LRIP 1 unit in July 2003. The AESA programme started in 1999 and the radar had its first flight in July 2003. The programme completed an operational evaluation in December 2006 and will commence follow-on test and evaluation later this summer in preparation for first deployment in 2008. To date the AESA radar has proven to be seven times more reliable than the legacy system it replaces, and programme officials expect this Figure to increase in the future. Australia is also procuring 24 F/A-18F Block II Super Hornet equipped with AESA. Advanced capabilities include cruise missile defence, an enhanced SAR-mapping capability, extended air-to-air range, and an interleaved mode capability that allows air-to-air and air-to-ground modes to be used simultaneously, a particularly useful mode in two-seat aircraft. VFA-213, in Oceana, VA, was the first operational unit to stand up as an AESA-equipped F/A-18F squadron in October 2006 and VFA-22, in Lemoore, CA, is currently transitioning to AESA-equipped F/A-18F aircraft. Both squadrons have initiated a training regimen that will prepare them for deployment with AESA in 2008.