China’s J-20 stealth jet designers plan to put powerful radar into aircraft wing
Quick Look
Chinese military aircraft designers have proposed integrating large antenna arrays into aircraft wings to enhance early-warning radar coverage, as detailed in a study published in Measurement & Control Technology.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Fighter jets typically house main radars in the nose, while airborne early-warning aircraft use large structures above the fuselage.
Fighter jets typically house their main radars behind a radome in the nose, while conventional airborne early-warning aircraft often carry large radar arrays in prominent structures above the fuselage.
Although aircraft wings offer a large surface area, their relatively thin cross-sections leave limited internal space for radar equipment.
Top Chinese military aircraft designers have now proposed a revolutionary method to integrate large antenna arrays into aircraft wings, using flight manoeuvres and coordinated formations of unmanned aircraft to expand radar coverage.
The design was outlined in a study published online on October 10 in the peer-reviewed Chinese journal Measurement & Control Technology, which presented wing-mounted radar as a new approach to building multifunctional, high-performance airborne early-warning systems.
Open Questions
- How will the thin wing cross-section accommodate the radar hardware?
- What is the operational range of the proposed wing-mounted arrays?
