Radar-jet.jpg (Photo : www.defense-update.com)
Now on display at the 10th China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai is a new phased array radar named JY-26 that can detect and track stealth aircraft like America's famed F-22 Raptor fighter jet.
Developed by the Nanjing Research Institute of Electronics Technology, also known as the "14th Institute," the JY-26 phased array radar is capable of high accuracy, target tracking and separation, and can operate up to a range of 500 kilometers.
According to the manufacturer, it comes with a built-in robust system of anti-jam and electronic counter-countermeasures, enabling it to face up to strike forces conducting advanced anti-access/area denial (a2/ad) attacks.
The makers also said that the JY-26 operates in VHF/UHF long wave band and enables its newly developed radar to detect targets presenting low radar cross section at the decimetric, centimeter and millimeter wave bands.
Also, the use of phased array technology allows power to be directed and transmitted at a certain location where a target presence is suspected, thus increasing the probability of detection of low-RCS targets.
In fact, while working on the project at Shandong, located just across the Yellow Sea that separates the Korean peninsula from mainland China, the manufacturers claim that the JY-26 radar has already been able to spot U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets while it flies over South Korea during a recent military exercise.
The development of the JY-26 is in keeping with China's aim to counter the rise in stealth aircraft usage and capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region.
Aside from the United States that already has its F-22 fighter jet and the B-2 bomber, other countries like South Korea, Japan and India are also coming up with their own stealth-capable planes. The Russians are reportedly helping India with the development of a stealth fighter jet.
Aside from the JY-26, other featured attractions at China's largest airshow were the J-31 fifth-generation jet and the Y-20 large military transport aircraft.
