Northrop Grumman radar could mean big things for Marine Corps F/A-18C/D jets

The U.S. Marines hope to upgrade and retrofit roughly 100 F/A-18C/D aircraft with active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar systems as the service extends the operational life of its Hornet fleet before those jets are eventually replaced by Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Northrop Grumman has performed a fit check of its new AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) on a Boeing F/A-18C Hornet strike fighter at the request of the U.S. Marine Corps on 2 Aug. The Marine Corps, which is the sole remaining operator of the classic Hornet in active U.S. military service, hopes to replace the mechanically-scanned Raytheon AN/AGP-73 radar with a new AESA radar. Northrop Grumman is competing with incumbent Raytheon, which is offering its AN/APG-79(V)X Raytheon Advanced Combat Radar (RACR). Both radars would offer improved performance, reliability, and sustainability.