The U.S. Air Force has completed the installation of Northrop Grumman AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) on Air National Guard F-16s to meet a U.S. Northern Command Joint Emergent Operational Need (JEON) for homeland defense. SABR extends the operational viability and reliability of the Air National Guard F-16s and provides pilots with 5th-generation fighter radar capabilities.

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Northrop Grumman and Air National Guard leaders celebrate the completion of SABR upgrades on F-16s at Andrews Air Force Base. (Picture source: Northrop Grumman)

“The completion of these deliveries highlights Northrop Grumman’s continued commitment to rapidly field 5th generation radar capability to the fleet to counter and defeat increasingly sophisticated threats to our nation and its allies,” said Mark Rossi, director, SABR programs, Northrop Grumman. “Through our continued partnership with the Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, we are providing enhanced radar capabilities with ongoing agile software developments that will keep pilots ahead of adversaries for years to come.”

With this upgrade, the APG-83 radar is flying operationally on 72 jets stationed at nine U.S. Air National Guard bases throughout the country.

Northrop Grumman provides the SABR APG-83 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) fire control radar for the F-16 with advanced capabilities derived from Northrop Grumman’s family of highly successful 5th generation fighter AESA radars. The greater bandwidth, speed and agility of the APG-83 enables the F-16 to detect, track and identify a greater number of targets faster and at longer ranges. In addition, it features all-weather, high-resolution synthetic aperture radar mapping to present the pilot with a large surface image for more precise target identification and strike compared to legacy systems.