Irbis doesn’t use swash plate and has max scanning angle of ±125, much higher than the ±100 of the swash plate captor e
Wait does irbis even use a swash plate? Idek what a swash plate even does
the swash plate is the thing rotating
i mean with bars
Yeah but irbis can also do that no? And that isn’t called a swash plate, at least I haven’t seen anyone call it that
you made a generalization
basically saying that a design with a swash plate will always have gimbal
that was the question:
and this was your awnser:
becasue it isnt
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again the swash plate is the thing inbetween the antenna and the plane that rotates to achive a radar gimbal
and it is pretty much the only way to gimbal an AESA radar due to how many wires are need for an aesa
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A swasplate is an angled plate that turns a rotating input into a reciprocal output.
As for why a swashplate is used, I’m not sure if its exactly stated, but If I had to hazard a guess, its likely due to increased reliability and potentially also increased potential speed paired with the AESA’s electronic beamforming, as your input is always only a single thing (rotational input in either direction).
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i think it is due to wiring, as an aesa needs alot of power, cooling and wires
and a mechanical gimbal might pinch the wires
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Also possible. @Gunjob or @Flame2512 might know a bit more of why a swashplate was picked
Interestingly, the Chinese have shown their KLJ-7A AESA radar in fixed, swashplate, or multi-array configurations:
Spoiler:
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I asked the BAE rep at an airshow why they used a swash plate instead of a typical gimbal and he didn’t give me a meaningful answer. So not really sure TBH
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Probs not a question they were expecting to field lol. Does seem like the only other AESA with a repositionner I can find uses a swashplate as well, so clearly theres a reason its used for AESA’s.
im not sure but i think a swash plate is much lighter than using a gimbal.
the fixed and multi array one is the same, you can see covers on your first image, where on the 3rd it has extra arrays
the issue, at least for the EF/ gripen, might not be weight but size
the swash plate seems to be more compact, but a bit less flexible compared to a normal mechanical gimbal
Yeah I know, I was speaking of the configuration.
A multi array radar is just a fixed radar someone smacked some extra arrays on, but we still define them as different configurations because they perform differently…
APG-77 also has room for and at one point allegedly plans for a multi-array upgrade to it, despite nominally being a fixed array.
Spoiler
fair enough
in reality the normal fixed array one will just be the budged version
Id guess reliability and simplicity
Correct me if im wrong, but a typical radar likely requires multiple motors or actuators to provide the full range of motion. that is both heavy and requires a lot of maintainence.
A swashplate though is far more simple, requiring only 2? motors that can likely be electrical rather than mechanical. Easier maintainance, better precesion, etc etc. Also probably a lot more durable and maybe also be easier to remove
Only need 1 actually, though they might have more for increased reliability.
Even better then. Couldnt recall if it need 1 per axis (is 2 axis right?)
But if its just 1. Then its even better still