Waltham, MA-based Raytheon announced on March 25 that it is developing a new version of the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar that flies on the U-2 Dragon Lady aircraft under a $320 million contract from the U.S. Air Force.
Equipped with an
active electronically scanned array antenna, ASARS-2B doubles the surveillance
range while maintaining the mapping and imagery resolution of the current
ASARS-2A system. ASARS-2B completed flight test at Edwards Air Force Base
in California in early 2019.
“ASARS-2B allows
the Dragon Lady to see further than ever before,” said Eric
Ditmars, vice president of Raytheon Secure Sensor Solutions. “That
kind of range is crucial for commanders to achieve decision superiority – and
it ensures that the U-2 remains a preferred option for manned airborne
surveillance operations.”
ASARS-2B is a high-resolution, multimode, long-range, air-to-ground radar that provides operators with critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data. Capable of operating in all weather, day or night, ASARS detects and precisely locates fixed and moving targets on the ground.
Source: Raytheon
By Loren Blinde
March 26, 2019
