Ever smarter Beetle

Phazotron-NIIR Corporation is displaying at MAKS 2011 an improved version of the famed Zhuk (translates as Beetle) airborne radar with a slotted array antenna. The Zhuk-ME modification has been developed for the MiG-29K carrier-based fighters currently being built under a contract from the Indian Navy. The Zhuk-M family has been around for quite some time, but Phazotron-NIIR General Designer Yuri Guskov says each new modification surpasses its predecessors in performance. "From aircraft to aircraft we keep improving the performance of our radars, they become ever more informative," he says. According to Guskov, the most advanced Zhuk-M version to date is installed on upgraded MiG-29UPG fighters for the Indian Air Force.

Radar manufacturing technology is evolving constantly. Guskov says that previously, a new radar system had to be developed for each new aircraft type. Nowadays, new radar modifications require minimum structural changes as all the new functionality comes in a separate module. This reduces the probability of malfunctions. Guskov says work to improve the slotted-array Zhuk-M will continue.

Maxim Pyadushkin