i’m not sure if this video proof your thesis because a s-band radar is not able to do illumination for essm. if they swap sea-master for an “mini-apar” they will lose their s-band volume search radar. i think it’s unlikely that the i-mast 400 can handle an additional fixed array x-band fire control radar. it would be interessting to get more information about the different i-mast solutions (50, 100, 400 and 500). afaik there is a option for the i-mast 100 to swap the sat-com with an trainable e/o and radar fire control system. i think i’ve seen it in another i-mast video.
In the vid, doesn’t it say “air surveillance and/or fire control radar” in reference to the lower antennea slots? This suggest the possibiliy of a radar which can do both functions. Nowhere does it say that this radar is or needs to be S-band.
IIRC, the 80km range X-band Thales APAR (active phased array radar) multi-function radar provides air and surface search and weapon fire control. The radar provides the following capabilities:
– air target tracking of over 200 targets out to 150 km
– surface target tracking of over 150 targets out to 32 km
– horizon search out to 75 km
– “limited” volume search out to 150 km (in order to back up the volume search capabilities of the SMART-L)
– cued search (a mode in which the search is cued using data originating from another sensor)
– surface gunfire support
– missile guidance using the Interrupted Continuous Wave Illumination (ICWI) technique, thus allowing guidance of 32 semi-active radar homing missiles in flight simultaneously, including 16 in the terminal guidance phase
– “innovative” Electronic Counter-Countermeasures (ECCM)
I don’t see why a smaller variant eg. Raytheon/Thales Scaled ESSM APAR (SEAPAR, which I’ve seen indicated by some as I/J-band and X-band by others, or as both, rather than S [or E/F]-band) couldn’t do both functions as well.
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