Compact AESA Radar for Autonomous Test Aircraft

Raytheon has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Air Force to equip the X-62A Variable In-flight Simulation Test Aircraft with its PhantomStrike fire-control radar, expanding sensing capabilities for autonomous and machine-learning-enabled flight testing.

Radar integration for autonomous flight testing
The contract covers the installation of the PhantomStrike radar on the X-62A VISTA, an experimental aircraft derived from an F-16D Block 30 and upgraded with Block 40 avionics. The platform is used as a test bed for autonomy, machine learning, and advanced flight control software, allowing the Air Force to evaluate new operational concepts without modifying frontline aircraft.

Integrating a modern fire-control radar on VISTA enables realistic testing of autonomous mission execution, including air-to-air and air-to-ground sensing, target tracking, and sensor-driven decision-making.

PhantomStrike radar characteristics
PhantomStrike is a compact active electronically scanned array radar designed to reduce size, weight, power consumption, and cooling requirements compared with conventional AESA fire-control radars. The system is fully air-cooled and uses gallium nitride (GaN) technology, eliminating the need for liquid cooling loops that add complexity and mass.

According to Raytheon, these design choices allow PhantomStrike to be integrated on a broader range of platforms, including uncrewed aerial vehicles, light-attack aircraft, and rotary-wing aircraft, where space and power margins are limited.

Functional capabilities and cost profile
The radar incorporates digital beam forming and electronic beam steering, supporting multimode operation and interleaved air and ground targeting. This allows a single sensor to perform multiple functions concurrently, such as tracking airborne targets while mapping or designating ground objects.

Raytheon states that PhantomStrike delivers fire-control-class capability at nearly half the cost of typical modern radars. Cost reduction is attributed to the compact architecture, air-cooled design, and manufacturing approach optimized for scalability.

Role in future air combat concepts
Autonomous and optionally crewed aircraft are increasingly viewed as a way to extend air combat capability while reducing risk to pilots. Sensors are a critical enabler of these concepts, as autonomy depends on reliable, real-time perception of the operational environment.

By fielding a compact, lower-power radar on an autonomous test aircraft, the Air Force can evaluate how advanced sensing supports autonomous maneuvering, target prioritization, and cooperative operations with crewed and uncrewed assets.

Broader implications for radar deployment
The PhantomStrike integration highlights a trend toward modular, adaptable radar systems that can be deployed across multiple aircraft classes. For test and evaluation platforms like VISTA, such radars enable experimentation with autonomy and sensor fusion in conditions representative of operational missions.

Within the wider defense aviation landscape, the project illustrates how reduced-SWaP (size, weight, and power) AESA radars are becoming central to next-generation aircraft architectures, particularly as autonomy and distributed air operations move from experimentation toward operational deployment.