South Korea’s LIG Nex1 unveiled the prototype of its ESR-500A AESA-type radar intended to equip the KAI FA-50 advanced trainer/light fighter.
The ESR-500A prototype was unveiled to the public for the first time at LIG Nex1’s booth at the «Air Force 2023 Civil-Military Cooperation Seminar» held at the Daejeon Convention Center.
The technology for the AESA radar has been under development by LIG Nex1, in cooperation with government agencies, since 2006, having succeeded in producing some technology demonstrators between 2014 and 2021. Finally, between 2021 and 2023, and in partnership with Korea Aerospace Industries, LIG Nex1 produced the ESR-500A radar prototype.
See also: KAI revives the idea of the F-50, an FA-50 derivative fighter aircraft
ESR-500A Radar
The ESR-500A is an X-band active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, which as its designation indicates, consists of 500 TRMs (Transmit/Receive Modules) based on GaN (Gallium Nitride) materials.
Each TRM is essentially an independent mini radar that electronically scans the designated area, allowing it to simultaneously perform several search and tracking functions, making it more difficult to be jammed by electronic warfare means and providing better situational awareness to the pilot, compared to previous generation mechanical radars. In this way, the ESR-500A has the capability to simultaneously detect and track multiple air, ground and sea targets.
Being air-cooled, the ESR-500A radar has low weight and compact dimensions, making it particularly suitable for installation on light fighters and advanced trainers. Air cooling also reduces the radar’s maintenance costs.
The ESR-500A was developed to replace the Israeli Elta EL/M-2032 mechanical scanning radar currently mounted on T/FA-50 family aircraft, which would improve its combat performance while increasing the level of Korean components present on the fighter, further enhancing its commercial competitiveness.
Final testing
According to the South Korean newspaper Seoul, Kim Ji-chan, CEO of LIG Nex1, said, «In order to finally complete the development of the FA-50 AESA radar, there are still verification tasks, such as ground integration tests and flight tests on the FA-50».
Once its development is completed, the ESR-500A will not only be able to equip the Korean FA-50 fighters, but because of its characteristics, it could be easily integrated into other platforms of similar dimensions, whether newly manufactured or to be upgraded.
