Radar Doppler Multitarget

Radar Doppler Multitarget (RDY in its French acronym) is a multimode Look-down/shoot-down Pulse-Doppler radar designed by Thomson-CSF (now Thales) for the Mirage 2000-5 fighter. The RDY-3 derivative has been fitted to Moroccan Mirage F1's. Thomson has claimed that the original RDY outperformed the AN/APG-66/68 of the F-16 and the AN/APG-65 of the F/A-18 Hornet.[1]

Design

The original RDI/RDM radars on the Mirage 2000 only worked in air-to-air mode.[2] The RDY was designed to add air-to-ground modes, in particular the ability to control Exocet and Kormoran 2 anti-shipping missiles.[2] The 240 kg (530 lb) system has a 655 mm (25.8 in) flat-plate antenna scanning a 3.5° beam over a 60° cone at powers up to 120 kW.[2] Maximum range is 60 nmi (110 km) in air-to-air mode and 20 nmi (37 km) in look-down mode.[2] The RDY can detect 24 targets, track eight of them and engage four targets at a time.[2] The enhanced RDY-2 has a slightly greater range and adds a SAR mode.

History

Development began in 1984, with the first of nine prototypes flying in July 1987 in a Mystère 20, and the first delivery of a production set in December 1994.

RDY is the standard fit on the Mirage 2000–5,-5Mk2 (RDY-2) and -9 (RDY-2) aircraft and has been retrofitted aboard 37 French Air Force Mirage 2000Cs (aircraft to Mirage 2000-5F standard; 11 aircraft redelivered during 1998, 22 during 1999), 25 Greek Mirage 2000-5 Mk2 and 62 United Arab Emirates' Mirage 2000EAD/DADs. Other customers for the Mirage 2000-5 include Qatar (Mirage 2000-5EDA and -5DDA aircraft) and Taiwan (Mirage 2000-5Ei and -5Di aircraft). India's fleet will receive RDY-2 under a €1.47bn contract signed in July 2011 to upgrade them to 2000-5 standard.

As part of the MF2000 upgrade, 27 Mirage F1 of the Royal Moroccan Air Force are being fitted with the Thales RC400 (RDY-3 or RDC), a derivative of the RDY with an antenna sized to fit the smaller aircraft.

Specification
  • Frequency:8 to 12 GHz
  • Band: I/J

See also
  • RBE2 - Radar à Balayage Electronique 2, radar on the Rafale

Notes and references
  1. "RDY radar tests give Mirage 2000 boost" (PDF). Flight International. 23–29 May 1990. p. 29.
  2. Friedman, Norman (1997). The Naval Institute Guide to World Naval Weapons Systems, 1997-1998. Naval Institute Press. pp. 196–7. ISBN 9781557502681.
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