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In article , Glenfiddich
wrote: On 21 May 2004 19:14:11 GMT, (B2431) wrote: I have seen phased array aircraft radars that look as if they still mechanically sweep the dish. I thought the entire reason for phased arrays was so they wouldn't need to mechanically move. I know how phased arrays work in principle, but that's as far as I go. What am I missing here? A flat phased array antenna can instantly swing its beam electronically to point *anywhere* ahead but can NOT look 'behind' the plane of the antenna array. And its efficiency falls off as it squints to extreme port or starboard... Therefore, to get 'all-round' coverage you either add more arrays (facing left, right and rear, as you see on the bridge structure of many modern ships) - or physically swing the one antenna you already have. Adding a turntable to a single antenna sounds like an engineer's answer to the design problem. A simple, robust rotator, being very 'old-tech', is probably a lot cheaper and more reliable than 3 more arrays... OK for big platforms like AWACS or E-2C, but problematic for fast-movers. From an engineering standpoint... -- Harry Andreas Engineering raconteur |
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