RBE2
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The RBE2 (Radar à Balayage Electronique 2 plans) is a multirole
radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...
developed during the 1990s for the
Dassault Rafale The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", and "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide range ...
, a French combat aircraft. The original RBE2 is a passive electronically scanned array. This has since been developed into the RBE2-AA, an active electronically scanned array.


Development

Development of the RBE2 began in 1989 as a joint project between Thomson-CSF's RCM division and Dassault Electronique which merged in 1998 to form Thomson-CSF Detexis. Development was continued by Thomson-CSF's successor company,
Thales Group Thales Group () is a French multinational company that designs, develops and manufactures electrical systems as well as devices and equipment for the aerospace, defence, transportation and security sectors. The company is headquartered in Paris' ...
. The RBE2 is a passive electronically scanned array (PESA), an electronically scanned radar with a single transmitter. Flight trials of the RBE2 began in 1992 and the first production radar was delivered in May 1997. In April 2002, the French defence procurement agency, Délégation Générale pour l'Armement (DGA), awarded Thales Group a contract to develop an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar demonstrator based on the RBE2 radar. The resulting RBE2-AA (active array) variant has been tested on a Mirage 2000 testbed aircraft from the Flight Test Center of the DGA and then on a Rafale. While the first tests were made with US-made transmitter-receivers, the current radar features parts manufactured by Thales. The radar uses about 838 GaAs T/R modules. In July 2004, DGA awarded a 90 million-euro contract for the development of a second a AESA radar demonstrator. Production of the RBE2-AA commenced in 2008 and entered service in 2013.


See also

*
Optronique secteur frontal The ''Optronique secteur frontal'' (OSF) is a long range optoelectronics system developed for the French Dassault Rafale combat aircraft. With its narrow field, the visible waveband capability is truly valuable to identify targets in situations w ...
(OSF) *
Euroradar CAPTOR The Euroradar Captor is a next-generation mechanical multi-mode pulse Doppler radar designed for the Eurofighter Typhoon. Development of Captor led to the Airborne Multirole Solid State Active Array Radar (AMSAR) project which eventually produ ...


References


External links


Thales Group: Active Electronically Scanned Array - AESA RBE2 radar
Aircraft radars Military radars of France Thales Group {{radio-comm-stub