To a pilot, a radar is only as useful as the information it provides, and Northrop Grumman's (NGC) Big SAR (synthetic aperture radar) mapping for the Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) delivers the largest, sharpest radar images ever available in an F-16.

The company's SABR has successfully demonstrated several advanced radar capabilities for the F-16, including Big SAR maps with automatic target cueing. The SABR Big SAR offers an unprecedented level of situational awareness and target identification for F-16 pilots.

“SABR's Big SAR is high-definition radar imagery that covers a large area on the ground in a single image,” said Joseph Ensor, Vice President and General Manager of Northrop Grumman's Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Targeting Systems Division.

“This advance will give F-16 pilots the largest maps with the most detail that they have ever seen in the cockpit. Combined with SABR's automatic target cueing capability, the F-16 will have targeting capabilities unmatched by any other fourth-generation fighter,” he added.

SABR is an affordable, multifunction active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar designed specifically for F-16 retrofit. SABR provides longer detection and tracking ranges, high-resolution SAR maps for all-environment precision targeting, interleaved mode operations for greater situational awareness and greater reliability.

Northrop Grumman has nearly four decades of F-16 radar development and integration experience, and has delivered more than 6,000 fire control radars to U.S. and international air forces. The company also supplies the AESA fire control radars for the F-16 Block 60, F-22 and F-35 aircraft.