U.S.M.C. F/A-18 Makes First Flight with Raytheon’s GaN-AESA Radar

Raytheon’s pre-production APG-79(V)4 radar system, was successfully flown on a U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet earlier this year, making it the radar system’s first flight on the aircraft.

The flight test took place at Naval Air Weapons Station in China Lake, California.

This is the radar system’s first flight on the aircraft since Raytheon Intelligence & Space (RI&S) delivered the prototype radar in 2021, the company confirmed in a statement.

The APG-79(V)4 is an APG-79 radar derivative that employs the first airborne GaN-AESA fire-control radar to help pilots detect and track enemy aircraft from greater distances with greater accuracy and meets the power and cooling requirements of legacy aircraft.

The U.S. Marine Corps pilot demonstrated the radar’s seamless integration with the legacy Hornet avionics. The APG-79(V)4 radar is common in parts and technology with the legacy AN/APG-79 radar used in the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornet, thus optimizing cost and sustainment. Flight tests will continue to support weapons system integration on the fleet.

The Naval Air Systems Command recently awarded additional contract modifications to equip the Hornet fleet with more radars in 2021, and the total production value for domestic and foreign military sales customers is over $300 million.