AWACS radar head rotation speed

[zero_gravity]

Can anyone tell me what the rotation rate is on the NATO AWACS airborne systems ?

It was estimated yesterday at 5.6 rpm , but that seems a bit slow

Thanks ZG

[POL]

Google quotes anything between 4 and 6 - so 5.6 may not be far out! I doubt it could rotate too quickly, surely it'd affect the aircraft centre of gravity?

[zero_gravity]

Good point Chris about the CoG....I suppose if it was whizzing round it might even act as a point of lift too !

This all came about yesterday when using PlanePlotter beamfinder to locate the source of airborne interrogation radar pings.
PP calculated the location of the source to within a mile or so over Holland and the rotation rate at 5.6 , so i guess it was pretty much spot on.

This screen shot from PP taken at the time shows the beam emitting from the AWACS.
The location is a little bit out as it takes a few minutes to calculate all the data , by which time the airborne platform had moved south by a few miles.


NATO 01 was orbiting at FL300 as were most of the targets , giving a radar range of about 350 miles at that altitude.

[TheLincolnImp]

The radome scans at six revolutions a minute. When the radar is not operating the radome rotation rate is set at one revolution every four minutes.
from http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/e3awacs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Tiger Tim]

Also the dome is airborne BFORE the jet adding to the lift of the Sentry.