AN/APG-71, in part derived from the AN/APG-70 FCR in the Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle, replaced the AN/AWG-9 radar originally fitted to F-14A/B aircraft.Compared with the AWG-9, the APG-71 provided for better overland performance, expanded velocity search capability, a larger target engagement zone, a raid assessment mode and programmable electronic countermeasures and clutter control features.The APG-71 introduced greatly improved ECM performance, acknowledging the new and vastly more sophisticated jamming technologies that appeared since design of the F-14 was frozen. New modes included medium-PRF all-aspect capability, monopulse angle tracking, digital scan control, target identification and raid assessment while the number of Line Replaceable Units (LRUs) reduced from 26 to 14. The system also employed elements developed by Hughes for the AN/APG-70; for example the APG-71 signal processor was 86 per cent common (in modules) with that in the APG-70. The AWG-9's transmitter, power supply and aft cockpit tactical information display were retained for the APG-71.The APG-71 also incorporated Non-Co-operative Target Recognition (NCTR), by which radar contacts may be identified as friendly or hostile, at beyond visual range, through close examination of the raw radar returns at high resolution; this technique alleviates problems with deficiencies and ambiguities in IFF equipment.The APG-71's antenna retained the gimbal system of the AWG-9 and added a new array with low sidelobes and a guard channel to eliminate sidelobe penetration of ground clutter and electronic warfare interference. The APG-71 also provided an improved radar master oscillator which significantly increased the number of radar channels and provided frequency-agile
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The AN/AWG-9 and AN/APG-71 radars are all-weather, multi-mode X-Band pulse doppler radar systems designed for the F-14 Tomcat. It is a very long-range air-to-air system with the capability of guiding several AIM-54 Phoenix or AIM-120 AMRAAMmissiles at the same time using its track while scan mode. The primary difference between the AWG-9 and APG-71 is the replacement of the former's analog electronics with all-digital units. Both the AWG-9 and APG-71 were designed and manufactured by Hughes Aircraft; contractor support is now being provided byRaytheon.
The AN/AWG-9 offers a variety of air-to-air modes including long-range continuous wave velocity search, range-while-search at shorter ranges, and the first use of an airborne track-while-scan mode with the ability to track up to 24 airborne targets, display 18 of them on the cockpit displays, and launch against 6 of them at the same time. This function was originally designed to allow the Tomcat to shoot down formations of bombers at long range.
