中国有源相控阵技术发展状况及其战略影响

TheTechnologicalMaturityofChineseAESATechnology&StrategicImpacts中国有源相控阵技术发展状况及其战略影响Image1:APG-63(V)2radarinstalledonanF-15C.TheAPG-63(V)2wasthefirstfightermountedAESAradartoenterserviceworldwide.ThefirstAmericanF-15CunittoreceivethenewradarswerestationedatElmendorfin2000.Incomparison,thefirstEuropeanAESAenteredoperationalservicein2012andthefirstRussianAESAequippedfighters(Mig-35)willnotenterserviceuntil2016.TheinitialUStechnologicalleadinAESAtechnologyisattributabletosubstantialinvestmentsmadeinthelatestagesoftheColdWar.图1：装备F-15C的APG-63(V)2型雷达。APG-63(V)2是世界范围内最先装备战斗机并投入使用的雷达。位于埃尔门多的美国F-15C单位夫于2000年最先接收该新型雷达。相比较而言，欧洲最早列装使用AESA雷达的时间是2012年，而俄罗斯的Mig-35战斗机于2016年前不会装备AESA雷达。美国在AESA技术上的领导地位，完全得益于冷战后期的巨额投资。Author'sNote:DuringtheresearchprocessontheJ-31’savionics(fortheupcomingThreatAnalysisofForeignStealthFighters:J-31PartII),itbecameapparentthatveryfewcredible,verifiable,andnon-speculativeEnglishbasedsourcematerialsexistedonthesubjectofPLAfighterradars.Basicinformation,suchthepropernameordesignationofaradarsystemisutilizedbyaparticularfighteroftenvariesbetweensources;performancefiguresassociatedwithdomesticallyproducedradarsisevenhardertoverify.Thisarticle'sintentwastocompileawidevarietyofinformationonexpectedfuturedevelopmentsinChineseactivelyscannedelectronicarray(AESA)radars.Furthermore,thecurrent“ThreatAnalysisofForeignStealthFighters:PartIChengduJ-20”islargelydatedwithrespecttodevelopmentswiththeJ-20’savionicssuiteandthisarticlesubsequentlyprovidesmoreup-to-dateinformationontheJ-20’sAESA.作者注：在J-31航空电子设备研制过程中（在《国外隐身战机威胁分析第二部分：沈飞J-31》中将进行说明），目前尚没有多少足够可信，或经证实，以及非投机性的解放军战斗机雷达资料。一些基础信息，例如装备特定战斗机的雷达系统的名称或型号与其生产厂商有关；中国国产雷达的性能参数很难被证实。本文的主要目的在于收集汇总有关中国有源相控阵雷达未来发展方向的广泛大量信息。此外，当前《国外隐身战机威胁分析第一部分：成飞J-20》中已经对J-20的航电系统的发展状态进行了大量描述，本文随后将提供有关J-20有源相控阵雷达发展的最新信息。AESAradarsrepresentasignificantincreaseindetectionpower,reliability,andelectronicwarfarecapabilitieswhencomparedtoolderelectronicallyscannedarrays(ESA)andmechanicallyscannedarrays(MSA).ThisarticlelargelyfocusonmoretechnicalaspectsofAESAsbutthebasicsofAESAsarecogentlydetailedbyKarloKoppinActiveElectronicallySteeredArraysAMaturingTechnology.对比较早的电子扫描阵列（无源相控阵）雷达和机械扫描雷达，有源相控阵雷达具有在探测性能、可靠性和电子战方面均有大幅提升。本文主要关注AESA技术，但该技术的更详细描述可参考KarloKopp的《有源相控阵列——一个成熟的技术》一文。Threemaindeterminantsdictatethemaximumnumberoftransmitreceivermodulesafighterradarcanaccommodate:thevolumeoftheaircraft’snose,thetechnologicalmaturityofthefirm/country’sT/Rmodulepackagingtechnology,andtheeffectivenessoftheradar'sthermalmanagementsystem(s).Thevolumeofthenoseisafairlyintuitiveconstraint,thelargeranaircraft’snoseis,thelargertheradarcanbe.Forexample,theF-15C’snoseconeisabletoaccommodatethemuchlarger1,500T/RelementAPG-63V(3)radarvs.theF-16CBlock60withitscomparativelysmallernoseconeandits1,000T/RelementAPG-80AESA.PackagingtechnologyreferstohowmanyindividualT/RmodulescanbeinstalledwithinthefinitespaceusuallyaccomplishedbyreductionsinsizeoftheindividualT/Rmodules.Themoretechnologicallyadvancedafirm’sT/Rpackagingtechnologyis,thesmallertheindividualT/RmoduleswillberesultinginanincreasedensityofthelayoutofT/Rmoduleswithinthearray.Thus,advancementsinpackagingtechnologyenableengineerstoaccommodatemoreT/Rmoduleswithinthefixedvolumeoftheaircraft'snose.三个主要因素决定了战斗机雷达可容纳的T/R组件数量：飞机机头的容积容量、T/R组件封装技术的成熟度，以及雷达的热管理系统的工作效率。机头部位的容积是一个相当直观的约束条件，飞机鼻锥部位容积越大，雷达（天线阵面）越大。例如：F-15C的机头鼻锥可容纳具有1500个T/R组件的APG-63V(3)雷达，而F-16CBlock60只能容纳具有1000个T/R组件的APG-80雷达。通过减小单个T/R组件的体积，封装技术决定了再固定的空间内可容纳的最大T/R组件数量。更加先进的封装技术可制造体积更小的T/R组件，从而提高了阵面上的T/R组件布局密度。因此，在封装技术上的进步，将允许工程师们在固定的飞机鼻锥空间里布置更多的T/R组件。Image2:USearlyproductionquadpackedtransmitreceivermodules.TheUnitedStatesnolongerproducesquadchannelT/RmodulesandhassinceproducedsingleT/Rmoduledesigns.LessadvancedAESAssuchastheZhuk-AEutilizemulti-T/Rchanneldesigns,itispossibleChina'sfirstgenerationofAESAsalsoutilizeamulti-T/Rchanneldesign.图2：早期美国制造的4联装T/R组件。美国不再制造4联装T/R组件，转而制造独立封装的T/R组件。少数先进AESA系统，例如：Zhuk-AE雷达，使用多联装T/R组件封装技术，中国第一代AESA系统可能也使用了多联装T/R组件设计。Lastly,thermalmanagementsystemsareinstrumentalfortheoperationofhighpowerAESAradars.UnlikeMSAsystems,aircoolingsystemsareinsufficienttopreventheatrelatedsystemfailuresandfrequentmaintenanceissues:最后，热管理系统在高功耗AESA雷达中起到关键作用。与机械扫描（MSA）系统不同，风冷散热系统不足以防止散热相关的系统故障以及由其引起的频繁维修费用：“Duetothebehaviorofmicrowavetransistoramplifiers,thepowerefficiencyofaTRmoduletransmitteristypicallylessthan45%.Asaresult,anAESAwilldissipatealotofheatwhichmustbeextractedtopreventthetransmitterchipsbecomingmoltenpoolsofGalliumArsenide-reliabilityofGaAsMMICchipsimprovesthecoolertheyarerun.TraditionalaircoolingusedinmostestablishedavionichardwareisillsuitedtothehighpackagingdensityofanAESA,asaresultofwhichmodernAESAsareliquidcooled.USdesignsemployapolyalphaolefin(PAO)coolantsimilartoasynthetichydraulicfluid.Atypicalliquidcoolingsystemwillusepumpstodrivethecoolantthroughchannelsintheantenna,andthenrouteittoaheatexchanger.Thatmightbeanaircooledcore(radiatorstyle)oranimmersedheatexchangerinafueltank-withasecondliquidcoolinglooptodumpheatfromthefueltank.Incomparisonwithaconventionalaircooledfighterradar