Advanced Radar Capability Now Accessible for Smaller Aircraft

Raytheon’s PhantomStrike® Delivers High-Performance Sensing to a Broader Range of Platforms

A mission crew member triggered the system, and pilot Rob Swaringen glanced at the screen. Though he couldn’t reveal exactly what appeared, his reaction said it all — this small, lightweight radar was delivering awe-inspiring performance.

The test flight, conducted aboard a modified commercial jet configured as Raytheon’s airborne testbed, marked a major milestone for PhantomStrike®, the company’s new radar system. Designed around active electronically scanned array (AESA) technology, PhantomStrike delivers high-end sensing in a compact, lightweight package. It’s built to fit platforms ranging from light-attack aircraft and helicopters to even the smallest UAVs — extending advanced capability to a new class of airborne systems.

One key feature of PhantomStrike is its air-cooled design. By drawing air directly from the aircraft, the radar avoids the need for extensive plumbing or complex support systems. That simplicity made installation remarkably fast — just a few hours, according to Swaringen.

As Raytheon’s chief testbed pilot and a former F-16 aviator, Swaringen knows the critical role situational awareness plays — whether engaging hostile aircraft or flying high-risk test missions. Looking back on his fighter pilot days, he said PhantomStrike would have made a meaningful difference.

During the initial flight, the radar delivered crystal-clear imagery of California’s terrain — from dry valleys and thick forests to coastal islands and mountain ranges. For Larry Martin, that clarity was confirmation of success.

Martin, a senior technology fellow at Raytheon (an RTX business) and technical lead for PhantomStrike, had long pursued the vision of a radar unlike any other on the market. That vision is now reality.

To meet an aggressive timeline, program teams installed PhantomStrike on Raytheon’s Multi-Program Testbed — a heavily modified Boeing 727 engineered to carry and evaluate advanced sensors and electro-optical/infrared systems. The integration proved successful, enabling full testing under real flight conditions.

Despite its powerful capabilities, PhantomStrike is surprisingly compact — about the size of a gaming desktop and weighing less than 130 pounds. That compact profile makes it an ideal solution for aircraft with strict space, weight, and power limitations.

According to Dave Kupfer, a senior systems engineer and former PhantomStrike program manager, the radar’s scalability lies in its front-end sub-panel — essentially a large printed circuit board that can be reshaped to meet the design constraints of smaller platforms.

In the defense world, small but powerful radars can have a big strategic impact. Outfitting groups of expendable UAVs with long-range sensing enables them to act as force multipliers — extending the eyes of a mission and allowing crewed aircraft to operate from safer stand-off distances, all while maintaining full situational awareness.