Captor-E AESA Upgrades for Bundeswehr’s Eurofighters from 2022

Bundeswehr’s fleet of Eurofighters will get Captor-E Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) upgrades starting 2022, Luftwaffe chief said during an interview with a local daily.

“The Captor-E AESA radar will significantly increase the capabilities of the Eurofighter in air-to-air and air-to-ground applications. The conversion is expected to start in 2022,” Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz, told flugrevue.  

The Captor-E next-generation multi-mode Doppler radar was developed by Euroradar consortium comprising Leonardo (Great Britain, Italy), Indra (Spain) and sensor solutions provider Hensoldt (Germany) for reportedly €1 billion.

Although the radar first flew on the Eurofighter in 2007, so far, neither of these countries retrofitted their planes with the Captor-E. While Britain and Italy now operate F-35s (equipped with Northrop Grumman AN/APG-81 AESA radar), Germany’s Tornado jets are scheduled to be phased out soon, creating a need for fighters with advanced capabilities.

“Tornados have been in service since 1982, we will retire the fighters soon. It is important that we replace them with modern jets as soon as possible. For this, we urgently need to take a decision,” Gerhartz said.