Aselsan's AESA radar makes maiden flight

A screenshot from an Aselsan video showing its new AESA radar in an anechoic chamber prior to flight trials aboard an F-16. (Aselsan)

Aselsan revealed on 16 March that its domestically developed active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar made its maiden flight onboard a Turkish Air Force Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft.

The test was performed on 15 February aboard a test aircraft that also featured a mission computer developed by Aselsan.

The radar was designed with gallium nitride (GaN)-based chip technology, and has capabilities such as automatic target recognition, multiple target tracking, terrain mapping, distance measurement, automatic altitude determination, under-cloud surveillance with synthetic aperture radar, automatic target classification with artificial intelligence-supported algorithms, wideband radar spectrum monitoring, directional electronic jamming, and more effective guidance for air-launched munitions. Technical specifications of the radar were not disclosed.

Aselsan general manager Ahmet Akyol announced that the radar will operate in manned platforms F-16 Özgür, Hürjet, Kaan, as well as the Akıncı, Kızılelma, and Anka-3 unmanned platforms.

For more information on Turkey's domestically developed AESA radar, please seeTurkish Air Force receives modernised F-16 aircraft.