Radar and Electronic Warfare cooperation: How to improve the system efficiency?

Up to now, combat aircrafts are fitted with Fire Control Radar (FCR), Electronic Warfare System (EWS), and some radio links. Each of these systems is dedicated to a particular task and the cooperation is reduced to a minimal exchange of information between them, so far. Major system performance enhancements are to be expected from close cooperations to each other sensors. The future co-operations can be ordered in four stages. The first three ones lead progressively to a multi-functions sensor. The last one is the deployment, on a given platform, of compact multi-functions sensors on a network basis. Another area of co-operation is the realization of R.F. functions that are currently provided by other devices using other antennas. A typical example is the implementation of data links using the Radar or the EWS.