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German Eurofighter AESA Flight Testbed Flies

a320 with eurofighter nose
Credit: Airbus Defense and Space

Airbus has completed the first flight of an Airbus A320 modified with a Eurofighter nose to support active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radar testing.

The airframer is borrowing the German aerospace center DLR’s A320 Advanced Technology Research Aircraft to support testing of the European Common Radar System Mk. 1 AESA radar, which is being developed by Hensoldt, Indra and Leonardo for retrofit into German Tranche 2 and 3 Eurofighters and the new-build aircraft ordered through Germany’s Quadriga and Spain’s Halcon top-up buys.

Following installation of the nose onto the A320 in December, the modified airliner made its first flight with the nose from Braunschweig, Germany, the company announced Jan. 22.

As part of the modifications, Airbus Defense and Space engineers also reinforced the A320’s airframe, as the fighter nose is considerably heavier than the standard weather radar that normally equips the aircraft.

Next, test equipment will be installed in the rear of the aircraft including a customized Eurofighter avionics test rig and supporting cooling and power infrastructure, the company stated.

Flight tests with the radar are planned to begin this year.

According to AESA Radar Project Manager Thomas Hirsch, modifying the A320 to carry the radar has a “significantly shorter clearance process,” and the aircraft’s endurance means that more flight testing can be achieved in a single sortie, helping to speed up the radar’s development process.

Testing of the AESA radars also will be performed on Eurofighters as well, with Airbus announcing in December it had completed the first flight of a Spanish Eurofighter equipped with an AESA radar.

The radar flown on the Spanish Eurofighter is understood to be Radar Mk. 1, Step 0, an early iteration of Radar 1 equipped with a Hensoldt-developed antenna, but with Radar Mk. 0 electronics. Radar Mk. 0 is the AESA sensor currently used on Kuwaiti and Qatari Eurofighters. Later iterations of Radar 1, including Step 1 and Step 2, are in development.

The A320 adds to the growing number of adapted airliners being used as flight testbeds in Europe. Aerospace engineering company 2Excel Aviation is adapting a Boeing 757 to support testing of the sensor suite destined for the fighter that emerges from the Global Combat Air Program. Qinetiq in the UK has adapted an Avro RJ100 as an Airborne Technology Demonstrator and France’s DGA has a Fokker 100 regional airliner.

Tony Osborne

Based in London, Tony covers European defense programs. Prior to joining Aviation Week in November 2012, Tony was at Shephard Media Group where he was deputy editor for Rotorhub and Defence Helicopter magazines.