India Displays Locally-made AESA Radar for Tejas Jet at Aero India 2019

India’s Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has displayed an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar meant for the Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) of which some 100 have been ordered by the Indian Air Force.

The radar is a fully functional prototype developed by DRDO’s Electronics and Radar Establishment (ELRDE). The radar, mounted inside a glass nose of the Tejas aircraft was shown to the public for the first time at the Aero India 2019 event in Bangalore.

Fight tests of the radar, mounted on two Tejas aircraft are expected to begin in a month. Three radars have already completed static and ground tests and certified for flight by the Indian Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC). A fourth radar will be mounted on an executive jet for test purpose.

A source with ELRDE told defensworld.net that the AREA radar was a wholly indigenous development except for some cooling parts imported from Australia.

The radar, called ‘Uttam,’ features fully active array and wideband waveform generation. It has Azimuth and Elevation monopulse for high accuracy fire control, high resolution tracking of sea and air and ground targets, auxiliary channels for jammer suppression and multiple target tracking under dense clutter environment.

It has been especially designed to track multiple targets suitable for firing missiles at in air-to-air, air-to -ground and air-to-sea modes.

The radar could leap-frog the Tejas, which has been often criticized for having decades-old technology.