France stopped UAE to deploy its Rafales against Azeri JF-17 Block 3 in Falcons Meet 2026 war drills

[huanghong]

In fact, most of China's new-generation radars adopt GaN components, such as the export-oriented SLC-7 radar displayed in 2021.

 

[huanghong]

I strongly disagree from the "Semiconductor" POV! As a veteran of a number of decades in this field I can say the following:

• GaN based devices in J-10C AESA radar and Pl-15 show 10x better performance than GaAs based devices in Rafale AESA radar and Meteor
• GaN based devices are damn difficult to fabricate for they show damn poor device-to-device consistency in functionality and reliability. If the Chinese have mastered the arts and sciences of circumventing these issues hats off to them. By the by, it requires millions of engineering hours by burning billions of $s to fine-tune these fabrication processes. Here, the newly-grad PhDs in EE, Materials engineering, Physics etc. work like technicians! You need an army of such engineers and scientists! It's no "Java Programming" learnt on-line
• It requires extensive on-the-fly testing systems and engineering time to fine-tune GaN based AESA radars for different scenarios (detection, EW, EA, ECM, coupling with BVR missiles etc.). The USA uses giant Boeing 747s - teeming with test equipment and engineers- for countless flying hours for this purpose. Looks like the Chinese have surpassed the USA too! As for the EU or Russia, they don't have such means
• Etc.

*Strangely, the Turkish Boys and Girls have become like the Bell Labs class maestro in the field of III-V (generic name for GaAs, GaN etc.) semiconductors.

Please note that the ultimate performance of a device and its actual performance in engineering applications are not the same thing. In engineering applications, other issues must also be considered, such as heat dissipation and power supply. The most typical example is the F-35's APG-81 and APG-85. According to congressional testimony from the U.S. Air Force, the corresponding change in their cooling system is from 32 kW to 62–80 kW. In reality, the transmit power only increased by less than two to three times.

 

[ustaad]

I’m skeptical about this!

1. Are GaN-based devices 10 times more powerful than GaAs-based ones?
This is a classic case of a conceptual misunderstanding.
While it is true that the power density of GaN is 8–10 times that of GaAs, this comparison is subject to a variety of factors.

For wireless communication linear increase in RF power results in logarithmic increase in communication LOS distance given all other factors remain same, not sure if that same principle will apply to radars as well.

 

[K2RULEZ]

First time I read that.
you have some evidence for sure.... May I have it ?

"Saaaar, gib me proof! Did I tell you dad I am Franch?"