Russia’s Next Fighter Might Have a New Way to Shoot Down F-22s and F-35s

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Russia’s future sixth-generation fighter as well as its next generationunmanned aircraft could be equipped with what is described as a “radio-photonic radar.”

byDave Majumdar

The Russians are not the first to start developing photonic radars. An Italian funded project called PHOtonic-based full DIgital Radar (PHODIR) developed the first fully photonics-based coherent radar system in 2014. A photonic radar replaces the traditional electronic circuits of conventional radars with lasers, optical filters and photodiodes to generate very precise, high-quality radio frequency signals. “While the photonic radar still uses radio waves to locate objects like conventional systems, the laser allows it to pulse highly tuned frequencies in a broad emission band from the tens of megahertz to possibly up to the hundreds of gigahertz,”states a General Electric press statement.

Russia’s future sixth-generation fighter as well as its next generationunmanned aircraft could be equipped with what is described as a “radio-photonic radar.”

(This first appeared last month.)

If the Russians succeed in developing such systems, Moscow would be in possession of a sensor with far greater range and resolution—high enough to develop a three dimensional image of an airborne target—than anything currently in operation around the world. Potentially, such a radar system could allow the Russians to develop a weapons quality track on a stealth aircraft if it proves to be successful.