Radar Doppler Multitarget
{{Short description|Type of multimode aircraft radar}}
Radar Doppler Multitarget (RDY in its French acronym) is a multimode Look-down/shoot-down Pulse-Doppler radar designed by Thomson-CSF (now Thales) for the Mirage 2000-5 fighter. The RDY-3 derivative has been fitted to Moroccan Mirage F1s. Thomson has claimed that the original RDY outperformed the AN/APG-66/68 of the F-16 and the AN/APG-65 of the F/A-18 Hornet.{{Cite news | url=http://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1990/1990%20-%201471.PDF | page=29 | date=23–29 May 1990 | newspaper=Flight International | title= RDY radar tests give Mirage 2000 boost}}
Design
The original RDI/RDM radars on the Mirage 2000 only worked in air-to-air mode.{{cite book | title=The Naval Institute Guide to World Naval Weapons Systems, 1997-1998 | first=Norman | last=Friedman | publisher = Naval Institute Press | year=1997 | isbn=9781557502681 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l-DzknmTgDUC&pg=PA196| pages=196–7 }} The RDY was designed to add air-to-ground modes, in particular the ability to control Exocet and Kormoran 2 anti-shipping missiles. The {{convert|240|kg|lb|abbr=on}} system has a {{convert|655|mm|in|abbr=on}} flat-plate antenna scanning a 3.5° beam over a 60° cone at powers up to 120 kW. Maximum range is {{convert|60|nmi|km|abbr=on}} in air-to-air mode and {{convert|20|nmi|km|abbr=on}} in look-down mode. The RDY can detect 24 targets, track eight of them and engage four targets at a time. The enhanced RDY-2 has a slightly greater range and adds a SAR mode.
History
Development began in 1984, with the first of nine prototypes flying in July 1987 in a Mystère 20, and the first delivery of a production set in December 1994.
RDY is the standard fit on the Mirage 2000–5,-5Mk2 (RDY-2) and -9 (RDY-2) aircraft and has been retrofitted aboard 37 French Air Force Mirage 2000Cs (aircraft to Mirage 2000-5F standard; 11 aircraft redelivered during 1998, 22 during 1999), 25 Greek Mirage 2000-5 Mk2 and 62 United Arab Emirates' Mirage 2000EAD/DADs. Other customers for the Mirage 2000-5 include Qatar (Mirage 2000-5EDA and -5DDA aircraft) and Taiwan (Mirage 2000-5Ei and -5Di aircraft). India's fleet will receive RDY-2 under a €1.47bn contract signed in July 2011 to upgrade them to 2000-5 standard.
As part of the MF2000 upgrade, 27 Mirage F1 of the Royal Moroccan Air Force are being fitted with the Thales RC400 (RDY-3 or RDC), a derivative of the RDY with an antenna sized to fit the smaller aircraft.
Specification
- Frequency:8 to 12 GHz
- Band: I/J
See also
- RBE2 - Radar à Balayage Electronique 2, radar on the Rafale