Modern AESA basically uses microprocessors to coordinate the wave emission from large number of emitters to focus and steer beams. By basic physics the maximum sharpness of the beam is governed by the aperture of the entire emitting array.
With advent of high bandwidth data links between fighters and other platforms, is it possible to coordinate the emissions from many radar arrays in such a way that the radars coorporatively focus and steer a single beam, in effect creating an aperture equal in size to the maximum distance between any pairs of radar arrays in the whole group?
Can 2 F-22's flying at a distance from each other, for example, set up a high speed data link, and then use a single aircraft's processors to control emissions from the radar arrays on both aircraft so that it would be as if the controlling aircraft was emitting a beam twice as powerful as its own individual array can generate, and sharpened using aperture equal to the distance between the two planes?
If the two aircraft were to do this, I believe even if the enemy can intercept the radar emission, its radar warning receivers would localize the emitter not to either of the two F-22's, but to a point between them, thus defeating a substantial part of the function of the radar warning receivers.
Any thoughts?
With advent of high bandwidth data links between fighters and other platforms, is it possible to coordinate the emissions from many radar arrays in such a way that the radars coorporatively focus and steer a single beam, in effect creating an aperture equal in size to the maximum distance between any pairs of radar arrays in the whole group?
Can 2 F-22's flying at a distance from each other, for example, set up a high speed data link, and then use a single aircraft's processors to control emissions from the radar arrays on both aircraft so that it would be as if the controlling aircraft was emitting a beam twice as powerful as its own individual array can generate, and sharpened using aperture equal to the distance between the two planes?
If the two aircraft were to do this, I believe even if the enemy can intercept the radar emission, its radar warning receivers would localize the emitter not to either of the two F-22's, but to a point between them, thus defeating a substantial part of the function of the radar warning receivers.
Any thoughts?