China Proposes Innovative Wing-Mounted Radar for Airborne Surveillance

• •China's new radar design aims to enhance airborne surveillance capabilities.
• •The wing-mounted radar system overcomes limitations of traditional radar placements.
• •The concept promotes distributed operations using multiple unmanned aircraft.

Chinese military aircraft designers have proposed a new wing-mounted early-warning radar system aimed at enhancing surveillance capabilities during air combat. This design, published in the journal Measurement & Control Technology, seeks to embed radar equipment within the wings of aircraft, overcoming limitations of traditional nose-mounted and fuselage-mounted radars. The concept allows for a larger antenna aperture without the added weight and drag of external radar domes. However, the thin cross-section of wings poses challenges for housing radar hardware. The design includes multiple operational modes, enabling distributed radar networks among several unmanned aircraft to improve coverage. This approach is inspired by DARPA's distributed air combat concept from 2014, promoting the use of smaller platforms for broad-area surveillance. The study was authored by researchers associated with the AVIC Chengdu Aircraft Design and Research Institute, known for developing China's J-20 stealth fighter.