Infrared Tracking Under Development for Super Hornet

By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor

The Navy has begun development of an infrared search and track (IRST) sensor for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighter as an additional air-to-air capability.

Capt. Mark Darrah, the Navy’s program manager for the Super Hornet, told reporters on May 3 at the Navy League’s 2010 Sea-Air-Space Exposition that the sensor will be a derivative of a sensor developed for the F-14 Tomcat fighter, which was retired in 2007.

The IRST is intended to give the Super Hornet “weapons-quality tracks without using radar,” Darrah said.

The IRST is a passive sensor that would not be detected by conventional electronic surveillance measures.

Darrah said the Navy and Raytheon also are working on improving distributed targeting for the aircraft’s APG-79 active electronically scanned radar by giving the radar the ability to produce target mensuration data — geographical coordinates — on board the aircraft, something he said has never been done before.