On the opening day of the 13th China Zhuhai Airshow, a number of new radars from the 14th Institute of China Electronics Technology Group (CETC) were unveiled, including the ground intelligence radar “Lingdong” family including YLC-8E mobile UHF anti-stealth air defense alert radar, SLC-7 L-band multifunctional ground-based air defense radar, SLC-12 S-band alert radar, YLC-12 C-band medium and low altitude multifunctional radar and other typical products, which were displayed in different forms at the airshow.
These star radars cover UHF, L, S and C bands, and have the basic characteristics of “fourth-generation intelligence radars”, such as full digitalization and advanced technology system, and the backbone models have adopted gallium nitride technology one after another, making the overall performance more powerful. Among them, YLC-8E, which is called the “flagship” model of Chinese anti-stealth radar, has attracted much attention.
On September 29, the second day of the airshow, CETC Institute 14 showed the world’s first UHF band mobile stealth target detection radar – YLC-8E new high mobility anti-stealth radar, which is the first to adopt the “band + energy” anti-stealth design concept to achieve long-range early warning detection of stealthy aircraft.
As a large backbone radar of the radar network, YLC-8E is responsible for medium-high altitude and medium- and long-range anti-aircraft alert and guidance tasks, and realizes target search, tracking and guidance. The radar has the advantages of excellent anti-stealth capability, high mobility, strong anti-jamming capability, strong adaptability, high reliability, good maintainability, etc. “The main performance index is better than similar foreign radar products.”
YLC-8E radar antenna area is equivalent to two badminton courts, with a very high recognition. Within tens of seconds, the radar antenna array is folded or unfolded, and with the self-propelled chassis, the overall maneuverability is greatly enhanced, with stronger survivability and battlefield adaptability. Its huge antenna not only reflects the exquisite engineering technology level, but also represents the ability to achieve extremely high power levels, which, together with the highly sophisticated information processing technology, can “ensure that the stealth veil of the most advanced warplanes can be torn off”.
The unveiled YLC-8E radar is improved from the YLC-8B. In terms of technical features, YLC-8E continues some features of YLC-8B, making full use of frequency and energy anti-stealth design, working in UHF band, adopting large phased array antenna array, high power and high efficiency digital TR components and adaptive resource scheduling technology to achieve long-range early warning detection of stealthy aircraft.
According to CETC Institute 14, compared with YLC-8B, YLC-8E radar has long undergone qualitative changes. YLC-8E radar has a high degree of equipment integration, a large number of large-scale integrated circuits and other technologies and designs, fewer transport units, and obvious progress in reliability, maintainability, and reduction of failure probability. The antenna vehicle adopts single-vehicle loading, with strong passing capability and fast position transfer; it adopts mechanical, electrical and liquid integration technology and collects high-precision sensing equipment to realize automatic erection and withdrawal of the antenna vehicle. In addition, the anti-interference ability is strong, ensuring that it can “see accurately” in any complex environment.
Overall, “YLC-8E is a new generation of alert radar with excellent anti-stealth capability, high mobility, strong anti-jamming capability, high reliability and good maintainability, which is tasked with medium-high altitude and medium-long-range air-to-air alert and guidance to achieve search, tracking and guidance of targets”.