New German-Spanish Eurofighter radar to fly on Airbus A320 testbed
December 18, 2024
Our good friend Tony Osborne of Aviation Week posted the accompanying photo on Twitter (now X). It shows a radar nose being fitted to the DLR’s Airbus A320-232 ATRA (Advanced Technology Research Aircraft) testbed, D-ATRA, as part of the ongoing effort to fit the aircraft to serve as a test platform for the new Hensoldt-made ECRS.Mk 1 radar for new-build Tranche 4 German and Spanish Eurofighters, and for some retrofits. The new radar is already flying in prototype form on a Spanish Typhoon Instrumented Production Aircraft.
In its initial ‘Step 0’ form, the new radar is effectively an ECRS.Mk 0 radar (already in service with Kuwaiti and Qatari Eurofighter Typhoons), and will be functionally identical, differing only in having a German-manufactured antenna.
It may be assumed that the radar being fitted to the A320 ATRA will be the new ECRS.Mk 1 Step 1 standard, which will “significantly expands on the existing capabilities of the Mk 0,” its manufacturers insist, and will feature a new Hensoldt/Indra multi channel receiver, and new broadband TRMs.
Airbus was awarded a contract for the development, supply and integration of 115 Eurofighter E-SCAN Radars for the German and Spanish Eurofighter fleet in June 2020. This marked the largest order for the Captor-E electronically scanned array radar, 28 of which had been ordered for the Kuwaiti aircraft, and 24 for the QEAF Typhoons.
The contract foresaw the delivery and integration of 110 Captor-E radars for Germany and an initial batch of five radars for Spain, and was then intended to see deliveries begin by 2023.
The ATRA testbed is the largest aircraft operated by the DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., the German Center for Air- and Spaceflight). It has been in use by the DLR since 2008.
