The Boeing Company has been awarded a $130 million U.S. Air Force contract to upgrade 16 Air Force and Air National Guard F-15C Eagles with the APG-63(v)3 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar. This contract follows a similar agreement signed in September 2007 to equip seven aircraft. Raytheon, The radar producer’s share of this contract will be about $89.5 million. In September 07 Raytheon received a $52 million order to produce the radars for the first batch. The current order also includes logistical support. According to Jim Means, director of proprietary programs for Boeing Global Strike Systems, the new orders extend the APG-63(V)3 upgrade program through 2010.
Raytheon’s APG-63(v)3 AESA radar builds upon APG 63(v)2 technology and the hardware advances of the F/A 18E/F Super Hornet’s APG-79 AESA radar. It provides significantly enhanced performance and reliability at an affordable cost. The new radar is the latest addition to the F-15C. Previous upgrades included a fighter-to-fighter data link, GPS navigation and the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System, enabling network centric operations while employing the latest air-to-air weapons.
