# Project 2065 — F/A-18 Radar Upgrade

**Program element:** 0204136N — F/A-18 Squadrons  
**Project:** 2065  
**Component:** U.S. Navy  
**Appropriation:** 1319 — RDT&E, Navy  
**Budget Activity:** 7 — Operational System Development  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0204136N/2065  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0204136N

## Summary

Project 2065 — F/A-18 Radar Upgrade requests $12.2M in FY2027, 4.5% of the $271.4M requested for program element 0204136N, up 9.1% on FY2026. 2 R-2A activities decompose the request. NSMA is the largest named R-3 performer at $8.6M, 71% of the project's FY2027 R-3 total.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 5.8 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 11.2 |
| FY2027 | Request | 12.2 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 11.0 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 10.4 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 10.6 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 10.8 |

> Estimate types are not summed. This project is one leaf of PE 0204136N; the PE total is the sum of its projects, never added to them.

## What project 2065 buys

F/A-18 Radio Detection and Ranging (RADAR) Upgrade: The F/A-18 RADAR Upgrade, Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) development program, which began in FY 1999, is the last of three pre-planned upgrades to the F/A-18 EF/EA-18G RADAR. The AESA system corrects operational test deficiencies noted in the AN/APG-73. It provides multi-target tracking, Synthetic Aperture RADAR (SAR) imagery, SAR Target Location Error (TLE), and improved spotlight map resolution. In addition, it provides greater lethality than previous F/A-18 RADARs by allowing full tactical support of existing and planned air-to-air (A/A) and air-to-ground (A/G) weapons and it significantly increases detection and tracking ranges. The AESA system provides greater survivability through self-protection and standoff jamming capabilities, while its greater range allows for reduced detection by enemy RADAR. The AN/APG-73 will be upgraded to AN/APG-79. This combat-proven AESA radar system substantially increases the power of the F/A-18E/F EA-18G from the front-end array to the back-end processor and operational software. This budget continues spiral capability development of AESA with increased efforts to address Phase II Operational Requirements Document requirements such as Counter-Electronic Attack (CEA) against multiple Radio Frequency Emitters, AESA Multi-Jammer Electronic Protection, Precision TLE Improvement, Monopulse and 5th/6th Channel development, and Air Combat Maneuvering/Short Range Search and Track development. This budget supports AN/APG-79 integration in Wideband Receiver and Advanced EW suite as a contributing wideband sensor. It also includes upgrades to RADAR Instrumentation, test and evaluation assets, threat assets, and upgraded modeling and simulation of both clean and Electronic Attack threat environments. This budget includes the overarching Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW) software improvements, which includes Aided Target Recognition (AiTR), and Strike Accelerator/Kill Chain capabilities. This budget request supports development and testing of multiple module design modifications to address obsolescence issues with APG-65, APG-73 and APG-79 RADAR systems. USMC upgrades to the platform are being developed to include capability expansion of AESA Radar for F/A-18 C/D.

**R-3 lines of work:** Product Development; Support; Test and Evaluation; Management Services.

## Named R-3 performers

| Performer | $M | Share of this project's FY2027 R-3 total |
|---|---|---|
| NSMA | 8.6 | 71% |
| NAWCAD | 1.7 | 14% |
| NAWCWD | 1.5 | 13% |
| Tekla | 0.3 | 2.2% |

> Budget-justification contract funding, not obligations. Shares need not reach 100% — unnamed and government work is in the denominator.

## Activities (R-2A) — 2

| Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Distributed Targeting - Counter-Electronic Attack (CEA) Software Development, Developmental Testing, Operational Testing, & Integration | 5.6 | 11.2 | 12.2 | +9% | [a0](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0204136N/2065/a0) |
| F/A-18 RADAR Obsolescence Redesign | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | — |

> Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. In the request year they partition this project exactly; in earlier years they can under-cover it.

### Distributed Targeting - Counter-Electronic Attack (CEA) Software Development, Developmental Testing, Operational Testing, & Integration

Continuation of AN/APG-79 software development, upgrades and interoperability with System Configuration Set (SCS). This budget provides incorporation of correction of deficiencies for: Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW) software improvements, and Strike Accelerator/Kill Chain capabilities, Wideband Receiver and Advanced EW. Funding also…

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/0204136N/2065/a0

## What is NOT on this page

Congressional marks, the R-2 mission description and acquisition strategy, the industry vs government split of the whole request, and related program elements are recorded at **program-element** grain — an NDAA mark lands on a PE, never on a project. They are at https://hitchintel.com/programs/0204136N.

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Navy RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-2A/R-3, PE 0204136N project 2065 (PB PB2027).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0204136N")`.

*HitchAI is an independent intelligence service, not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense. Budget figures are requests/estimates, not obligations.*