Poland to equip its FA-50PL with the PhantomStrike, a lightweight but powerful AESA radar

Polish FA-50PL jets will not only train future F-16 and F-35 fighter pilots, but will have full all-weather multirole combat capability thanks to Raytheon Intelligence & Space’s state-of-the-art PhantomStrike radar.

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The decision on the selection of Raytheon’s novel lightweight AESA radar, the PhantomStrike, was recently communicated by the spokesman of the Polish Armed Forces Armament Agency.

Samoloty FA-50PL, które znajdą się na wyposażeniu ??Sił Powietrznych, zostaną wyposażone w radar #AESA #PhantomStrike, produkowany przez @RaytheonIntel, który umożliwi sprawną implementację wymaganych docelowych funkcji realizacji misji powietrze-powietrze i powietrze-ziemia. pic.twitter.com/yH8xaisXKy

— Krzysztof Płatek (@krzysztof_atek) May 10, 2023

Polish FA-50

On July 27, 2022, Korea Aerospace Industries (hereinafter referred to as KAI) and the Polish Ministry of Defense, signed the basic contract for the procurement of 48 FA-50 advanced trainer/light fighter aircraft, with an estimated value of $3 billion.

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The first 12 units will begin arriving from South Korea later this year, and will be of the Block 20 version, which includes the Israeli Elta EL/M-2032 mechanical radar, and the software upgrade and wiring necessary for the aircraft to obtain Beyond Visual Range (BVR) combat capability, which in the Polish case would take the form of the AIM-120 AMRAAM.

The remaining 36 aircraft will be produced in the PL version, which will incorporate the AESA PhantomStrike radar and will be integrated with the AIM-9X Sidewinder and AIM-120 AMRAAM advanced air-to-air missiles, as well as the Sniper laser designation pod and other modern weapons, such as laser-guided and satellite-guided bombs.

The FA-50PL will be the replacement for the Polish MiG-29, and thanks to its high availability rate and high logistical interoperability with the Lockheed Martin F-16, it will be a perfect complement to the Polish Air Force’s fighter fleet.

See also: LIG Nex1 presented its AESA radar for the Korean KAI FA-50 Fighter

PhantomStrike radar

This new product from Raytheon Intelligence & Space is an AESA radar, of reduced size and weight, to equip light platforms such as training aircraft, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles. In fact, in Raytheon’s promotional video, it is clear that the light fighter model depicted is an FA-50.

The PhantomStrike is a compact radar that weighs one-third as much as most modern AESA radars and costs about half as much. It combines the power of Gallium Nitride, or GaN, technology with innovative packaging of its digital receiver/exciter and processor called CHIRP, and a unique air-cooled design to deliver fourth-generation-plus performance.

https://twitter.com/RaytheonIntel/status/1635702440237383680?s=20

The FA-50PLs, with all the modifications requested by Poland, will start arriving in the European country by 2025. After that, it is likely that the first 12 units received will also be upgraded to this configuration.