View source for JL-10A

{{Short description|Type of aircraft radar}}
{{unreferenced|date=November 2023}}
The '''JL-10A''' airborne [[radar]] is a highly digitized [[pulse-Doppler radar]] with slotted [[planar array]] developed for the [[People's Liberation Army Air Force]] (PLAAF) as a replacement for the older '''Type 232H''' [[radar]] currently employed by the Chinese air force.  The [[radar]] is built to [[MIL-STD-1553]] standard so it is compatible with western electronics and weaponry.  Originally, the [[radar]] is capable of simultaneously tracking 10 targets (later to be upgraded to 15) and engaging 2 (later to be upgraded to 6) of the 10 tracked when using [[semi-active radar homing]] [[air-to-air missile]]s, or 4 of the 10 tracked when using [[active radar homing]] [[air-to-air missile]]s.

[[Image:JL10Aradar.jpg|thumb|right|A version of JL-10A]]

Although the [[radar]] has the terrain following and terrain avoidance capabilities, they are rarely used, instead, it is compatible with navigational pods such as the Chinese [[Blue Sky navigation pod|Blue Sky]] low altitude navigation pod that enable the aircraft to have these two capabilities.  The reason for using navigational pod with terrain following / avoidance radar in conjunction with JL-10A is to have a dedicated terrain following / avoidance mode purely for low level flight, while the fire control modes are continuous and separated from navigational modes such terrain following /avoidance, so that JL-10A would constantly stay at fire control modes instead of switching between terrain following / avoidance modes and other modes of operation.  Unlike the much more advanced electronically scanned [[phased array]] airborne [[radar]]s with each scan lasts only [[millisecond]]s, the JL-10A is a slotted [[planar array]] [[radar]] with each scan last from several [[second]]s to a dozen [[second]]s or greater, switching between different operational modes would take too long and thus deemed unacceptable under intense combat situations, so it would be far better to stay in the same operational mode to avoid any interruption under these situations. Reportedly, the terrain following / avoidance technology of JL-10A was developed from those originally obtained from captured [[terrain following radar]]s from downed [[A-6 Intruder]]s and [[General Dynamics F-111]]s during the [[Vietnam War]].

In 2001, JL-10A achieved a 32:1 DBS (Doppler beam sharpening) capability, but it still lagged behind the 48:1 DBS capability of [[AN/APG-66]], and it was not several years later when the JL-10A was finally upgraded with 64:1 DBS capability like that of [[AN/APG-68]]. Around the same time, JL-10A was also upgraded with the capability to simultaneously track 15 targets and engage 6 of the 15 tracked targets. By 2004, [[Synthetic Aperture Radar|SAR]] capability was incorporated, and inverse [[Synthetic Aperture Radar|SAR]] (ISAR) capability is reportedly under development.

The radar has already been tested and successfully installed on [[Xian JH-7|JH-7A Flying Leopard]] fighter-bombers and is capable of launching a scope of weapons including the [[C-802#Development|C-802]] [[anti-ship missile]] and the [[Russia]]n [[Kh-31]]. 

Specification:
*Frequency: X band
*Maximum detection range: 104&nbsp;km
*Maximum look-up tracking range: 80&nbsp;km
*Maximum look-down tracking range: 54&nbsp;km
*Maximum look-up engagement range: 40&nbsp;km
*Maximum look-down engagement range: 32&nbsp;km
*Total modes of operation: 11
*Sector of scan: +/- 60 degrees
*Maximum targets tracked: 15
*Maximum targets engaged: 6
*Developer: CLETRI (607th Institute)

==References==
[http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes-Avionics/JL-10A-airborne-interceptor-radar-China.html JL-10A]

[[Category:Aircraft radars]]
[[Category:Military radars of the People's Republic of China]]
[[Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1990s]]