AESA-Equipped B-2 Enters Flight Testing

Released on Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Northrop Grumman Corporation, working closely with Raytheon Company, has begun flight testing a new radar antenna on the B-2 stealth bomber that, combined with other upgrades, will enhance the aircraft's ability to respond to emerging worldwide threats.

Testing of the active, electronically scanned array (AESA) antenna on the B-2 represents a milestone for this radar modernization program because it allows engineers to determine, for the first time, how the radar operates under actual flight conditions.

Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for the B-2, which remains the only long-range, large-payload aircraft that can penetrate deep into protected airspace. Combined with superior airspace control to be provided by the F-22 Raptor and global mobility provided by tanker aircraft, the B-2 will ensure an effective U.S. response to threats anywhere in the world.

Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, the radar system provider, recently delivered two AESA antennas to Northrop Grumman for the flight test program. Following integration tests, the antennas were installed on a B-2 aircraft.

The B-2 radar work is part of a $382 million system development and demonstration contract awarded by the Air Force in 2004. During this phase, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon are developing and testing the radar and will install additional systems on operational B-2 aircraft of the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo. This phase will be followed by production to field the new radar and install the antenna into the B-2 fleet.