B-1 Bomber Scalable Agile Beam Radar - Global Strike unveiled by Northrop Grumman
NewsMay 07, 2015
LINTHICUM, Md.Northrop Grumman Corp. engineers unveiled the Scalable Agile Beam Radar – Global Strike (SABR-GS), which will be used for the U.S. Air Force's B-1B Lancer. The SABR-GS, multi-function, active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, was developed as an affordable, low risk radar retrofit solution.
The announcement was made at the 30th Anniversary B-1 Reunion held at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas.
The new radar has advanced operational capabilities and provides greater system reliability than the older passive ESA. Is large synthetic aperture radar maps, advanced image processing, and its sensor integration enable a situational awareness advantages and provide the aircraft with intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, (ISR) and targeting capabilities. Northrop Grumman engineers also leveraged open architecture standards to integrate data from other onboard sensors.
As a derivative of the AN/APG-83 SABR, the SABR-GS leverages hardware, legacy modes and advanced operating modes proven on the F-35, F-22, and F-16 aircraft.
SABR-GS development happened under a $21 million risk reduction contract awarded in 2011 by the Air Force B-1 Systems Program Office. Northrop Grumman has demonstrated in flight, the advanced B-1 AESA and advanced sensor and fusion processing, enabling the radar for the engineering, manufacturing and development phase.
The completion of this contract follows the Radar Modernization Improvement Program (RMIP), where Northrop Grumman experts modernized the radar receivers and processors of the B-1. SABR-GS will replace the APQ-164 radar antenna currently deployed on all B-1 bombers.
