Post by NLR - Netherlands Aerospace Centre

𝐍𝐋𝐑 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭-𝐠𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞 The PH-LAB – the Cessna Citation II research aircraft of NLR and TU Delft – has demonstrated its flexibility as a multidisciplinary flying test bed once again. Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) is performing extensive tests with a new radar system developed by LIG Defense&Aerospace (LIG D&A). The ESR-500A is an air-cooled Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, which means that the radar is able to scan different angles without moving parts. Mounted in the nose of the Citation PH-LAB, the new radar system was subjected to different tests to verify its effectiveness in tracking other planes in the air, a car driving along the runway at Twente Airport, and a boat moving around on the North Sea. LIG D&A is a South Korean defence technology company that developed the radar for a Korean-built attack aircraft, the FA-50. AESA radars generally rely on water-cooling. The ESR-500A radar, on the other hand, is designed with air-cooling, which makes the radar system significantly easier to integrate. The AESA radar was developed to ensure reliable performance across a wide range of targets.

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