Late last week, the French Armaments Agency (DGA) officially launched flight testing of the AirMaster C radar. Developed by Thales as part of the DRAGON program, this compact sensor was installed on a specially modified SA330 Puma helicopter. This is no coincidence: AirMaster C is set to play a central role in equipping the H160M Guépard, the future light helicopter of the French armed forces designed by Airbus Helicopters.
A radar tailored for the Guépard
The tests are taking place at the DGA's flight test center in Istres, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department. The objective is to test the radar in conditions close to those encountered on missions. Vibration, extreme temperatures, multi-target detection in a degraded environment: everything is being scrutinized. Technical integration with on-board computers and military data buses is also part of the program.
What sets the AirMaster C apart is, above all, its architecture. It is an AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) radar operating in X-band, built from silicon-germanium components. The result: a lighter, less power-hungry system, but without compromising on performance. It is capable of operating in different modes (surveillance, mapping, tracking moving targets, etc.) without hardware changes.
The device features advanced processing power, combined with an open software architecture. It can accommodate artificial intelligence modules, capable, for example, of analyzing the tactical situation or automatically recognizing targets from collected radar data. An "interleaving mode" feature also allows switching between several radar modes in parallel, without loss of coverage.
AirMaster C is designed to reduce the cognitive load on operators, while accelerating on-board decision-making. A significant asset for missions as diverse as special forces infiltration, armed reconnaissance, and maritime surveillance.
The AirMaster C has been selected to equip the H160M Guépard ordered as part of the HIL (Light Joint Helicopter) program. Ultimately, 169 aircraft are to be delivered, including 20 by 2030 according to the Military Programming Law. The Army will receive 80, the Navy 49, and the Air and Space Force 40.
The H160M, also modular, will harmonize the current fleet of light helicopters of the French forces, while providing common and modernized capabilities.
0 Comments