Raytheon reports a flight test of its APG-79(V)X AESA radar has validated its enhancement of the capabilities of the U.S. Navy's F/A-18C/D aircraft.

Active electronically scanned array radar utilizes small solid-state transmit and receive modules that scatter their signal emissions across a band of frequencies, making their source difficult to detect.

Raytheon has delivered some 500 AESA tactical radars to the U.S. military from its product portfolio, including APG-79s, the APG-63(V)3 and the APG-82(V)1 for F-15, F/A-18E/F, EA-18G and B-2 aircraft.

Its latest APG-79(V)X AESA radar extends detection ranges, has simultaneous air-to-air and air-to-ground capabilities and produces high-resolution synthetic aperture radar mapping.

"We put our latest AESA radar capability to the test and it exceeded our expectations," said Mike "Ponch" Garcia, business development director of Tactical Airborne Systems for Raytheon's Space and Airborne Systems business. "Our APG-79(V)X combines the best features of our AESA portfolio to ensure low risk and give F/A-18C/D a tactical advantage for the next 15 to 20 years."

Details on when and where the test was conducted were not disclosed.