OREANDA-NEWS. February 04, 2016. Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) is celebrating the beginning of APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) flight testing on the F-16V and the one-year anniversary of the first radar delivery for the F-16 Radar Modernization Program (RMP).

SABR, an active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar, has undergone more than two years of contract development, qualification and testing and has now been fully integrated into the F-16. Since the first SABR delivery last December, Northrop Grumman has produced and delivered 14 APG-83 radars to Lockheed Martin in support of the RMP engineering and manufacturing development phase. Northrop Grumman will deliver the first of 144 APG-83 production units later this year for the F-16 upgrade programs of international customers.

"The APG-83 provides customers worldwide an affordable and reliable active electronically scanned array radar upgrade option that provides 5th Generation fighter radar capabilities to the F-16," said

Mike Hinkey, vice president and general manager, airborne C4ISR systems division, Northrop Grumman. "The beginning of flight testing is a major milestone for SABR that will lead to game-changing mission advantages for the warfighter."

The APG-83 SABR provides F-16s with 5th Generation fighter radar capabilities by leveraging hardware and software commonality with Northrop Grumman-produced F-22 and F-35 AESA radars. SABR began initial flights in 2008 and continues to build an unmatched record of successful "firsts," including flight demonstrations during advanced combat-relevant operational exercises. As the only F-16 fire control radar supplier with four decades of on-platform integration experience, Northrop Grumman remains the industry leader in providing affordable and low-risk options for F-16 AESA radar upgrades.

For more information about SABR, including downloadable photos, videos and more, visit www.northropgrumman.com/Capabilities/sabr/Pages/default.aspx.