Fire Control Radars

Leonardo has a rich heritage designing and manufacturing Fire Control Radar (FCR), dating back to the early RAF Lightning AI-23 Airpass radar developed in the 1950s.

Today, the company's Centre of Excellence in Edinburgh is a world-leader in radar technology, where modern Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars are manufactured for Saab’s Gripen aircraft (Raven) and Eurofighter Typhoon (European Common Radar System (ECRS)).

A Fire Control Radar (FCR) is a specialised radar system, primarily used in fighter aircraft designed to detect, track, and guide weapons against airborne, surface, or ground targets with high precision. Unlike general surveillance radars that provide broad situational awareness, fire control radars focus on a specific target to supply accurate range, speed and velocity data. This information allows weapons to be directed with maximum effectiveness.

FCRs typically operate with narrow beams and higher frequencies to achieve fine angular resolution and rapid updates. Many modern systems also incorporate features like target discrimination, electronic protection measures (EPM) and electronic counter-countermeasures (ECCM), and are fully integrated with an aircraft's weapon system.

ECRS Mk0

ECRS Mk0 is designed and built by Leonardo UK as part of the EuroRadar consortium, incorporating knowledge and experience gained through the development of CAPTOR-M and technical demonstrator programmes. The system is Eurofighter Typhoon’s first AESA Radar.

ECRS Mk2

ECRS Mk2 is a multi-function Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) designed and built by Leonardo to provide Eurofighter Typhoons with a world-leading Electronic Warfare (EW) and Electronic Attack (EA) capability alongside optimised traditional radar functions.

RAVEN ES-05

RAVEN ES-05 is a high performance AESA radar designed for the Saab Gripen NG swing role fighter. It has been designed in close collaboration with Saab.