Sokol radar renamed?

Flight Tests of New “Zhuk-MSFEh” Radar for Combat Airplanes to Begin Before Year’s End

Flight tests of the newest on-board radar (BRLS), the “Zhuk-MSFEh,” will begin in December 2003, an informed source in the Russian defense industrial complex reported to Interfax-AVN.

“Flight tests of the “Zhuk-MSFEh,” which is installed on the first experimental Su-27KUB combat-training carrier fighter, will begin in December of this year,” the agency source declared.

At the present time, all principle questions connected with the radars flight tests have been resolved, he noted.

The “Zhuk-MSFEh” BRLS, earlier designated as “Sokol,” is intended for installation on fighters developed by the Sukhoy firm, has a phased antenna array and has been developed for export deliveries (MSFEh is Modified, Sukhoy, Phased, Export).

The “Zhuk-MSFEh” radar, developed by Fazotron-NIIR, has a principally new configuration and architecture of antenna array construction. The radar scan angle is plus or minus 70 degrees (the azimuth coverage is 140 degrees), the agency source reported. According to the estimated data, the new BRLS should detect and simultaneously track up to 30 airborne targets and fire simultaneously at up to 8 targets.

Recently, the annual rates of growth of the production volumes and sales at the Fazotron-NIIR corporation have been approximately 50 percent. Delivery of export product is today the main source of funds for the corporation’s development.

Source: 17.11.03, Interfax-Avn

The first report of the Su-27KUB/Su-33UB equipped with the Sokol was in the Jane’s MAKS03 report, to my knowledge.