AEW Nimrod: the Mission System Avionics

The Nimrod Airborne Early Warning aircraft will extend the surveillance radar coverage beyond that normally provided by surface radars. The paper discusses the Mission System Avionics part of the overall aircraft. The MSA undertakes the prime tasks of detection, classification, tracking and reporting. The system is capable of operation over land and sea surfaces and incorporates a very high level of automatic data handling. The paper reviews the radar, IFF interrogator, electronic-warfare support measures, communications, data handling, display and control and software aspects of the MSA.