AN / APG - 63 radar family The AN / APG - 63 and AN / APG - 70 are a family of all - weather multimode radar systems designed by Hughes Aircraft ( now Raytheon ) for the F - 15 Eagle air superiority fighter . These X - band pulse - doppler radar systems are designed for both air - air and air - ground missions ; they are able to look up at high - flying targets and down at low - flying targets without being confused by ground clutter . The systems can detect and track aircraft and small high - speed targets at distances beyond visual range down to close range , and at altitudes down to treetop level . The radar feeds target information into the aircraft ' s central computer for effective weapons delivery . For close - in dogfights , the radar automatically acquires enemy aircraft and projects this information onto the cockpit heads - up display . AN / APG - 63 . The APG - 63 was developed in the early 1970s and has been operational since 1973 , and was installed on all F - 15A / Bs . In 1979 , it received a major upgrade and became the first airborne radar to incorporate a software programmable signal processor ( PSP ) , and the PSP allowed the system to be modified to accommodate new modes and weapons through software reprogramming rather than by hardware retrofit . The APG - 63 with PSP is one of the most important feature that distinguishes earlier F - 15 A / Bs from the F - 15 C / Ds fitted with PSP , and with the exception of the final 43 ( which are equipped with APG - 70 ) , all F - 15 C / Ds are equipped with APG - 63 with PSP . The APG - 63 series is no longer in production but remains in service . Almost 1 , 000 APG - 63s had been delivered when production ended in 1986 . About 700 are still operational in F - 15As , Bs , and early model Cs and Ds operated by the U . S . Air Force , Air National Guard , and the air forces of Israel , Japan , and Saudi Arabia . They are also fitted to the Lockheed P - 3 Orion aircraft of U . S . Customs and Border Protection ' s Office of Air and Marine . AN / APG - 63 ( V ) 1 . The APG - 63 ( V ) 1 radar is a 1990s reliability / maintainability hardware redesign which also provided significant mode growth opportunities . It was designed to replace outmoded APG - 63 radars installed in F - 15C / D aircraft models , providing improved performance and a tenfold increase in reliability . The new radar is able to track 14 targets simultaneously while being able to simultaneously attack 6 of those . Raytheon delivered 180 APG - 63 ( V ) 1 radar systems to the U . S . Air Force ( 4 of which have since been lost to crashes ) , and is on contract to deliver an additional 40 radars to the Republic of Korea Air Force for the F - 15K Slam Eagle . AN / APG - 63 ( V ) 2 . The APG - 63 ( V ) 2 Active Electronically Scanned Array ( AESA ) radar has been retrofitted to 18 U . S . Air Force F - 15C aircraft . This upgrade includes most of the new hardware from the APG - 63 ( V ) 1 , but adds an AESA to provide increased pilot situational awareness . The AESA radar has an exceptionally agile beam , providing nearly instantaneous track updates and enhanced multi - target tracking capability . The APG - 63 ( V ) 2 is compatible with current F - 15C weapon loads and enables pilots to take full advantage of the AIM - 120 AMRAAM ' s capabilities , simultaneously initiating guidance for multiple missiles to several targets widely spaced in azimuth , elevation , or range . AN / APG - 63 ( V ) 3 . The APG - 63 ( V ) 3 radar is a more modern variant of the APG - 63 ( V ) 2 , applying the same AESA technology utilized in Raytheon ' s APG - 79 . The ( V ) 3 is designed for retrofit into F - 15C / D and deployed in Singapore ' s new F - 15SG aircraft . Raytheon delivered the first prototype APG - 63 ( V ) 3 system in June 2006 . The company started work on an initial production order in October 2007 . AN / APG - 64 . AN / APG - 64 is a development of AN / APG - 63 and it did not enter service . AN / APG - 70 . The APG - 70 was a 1980s redesign of the APG - 63 for greater reliability and easier maintenance . Additionally , gate array technology enabled the APG - 70 to incorporate new modes with enhanced operational capabilities . To reduce production costs , many of the upgraded radar ' s modules are common with the F / A - 18 ' s APG - 73 radar , while the computers / processors share a 85 % commonality with that of the F - 14 ' s APG - 71 radar . APG - 70 systems were originally installed on later model F - 15C / D aircraft , but have since been replaced on those aircraft by the APG - 63 ( V ) 1 . As with the basic APG - 63 , the APG - 70 is no longer in production ; but it is still in service on the F - 15E Strike Eagle , the Israeli F - 15I and the Saudi F - 15S . Also , as with APG - 63 , APG - 70 also comes in two versions , both have identical air - to - air capabilities , but slightly different air - to - ground capabilities : APG - 70 on F - 15Is and F - 15Ss exported to foreign customers has lower performance in that the resolution of Doppler Beam Sharpening ( DBS ) / Mapping / Synthetic Aparture Radar ( SAR ) modes for the APG - 70 on F - 15E of USAF is at least three times better than that of the APG - 70 on F - 15I and F - 15S . AN / APG - 82 . The AN / APG - 82 combines the processor of the APG - 79 used on the F / A - 18E / F Super Hornet with the antenna of the APG - 63 ( V ) 3 AESA being fitted on the F - 15C . The new radar also includes a new cooling system and Radio Frequency Tunable Filters ( RFTF ) . RFTF is designed to enable the F - 15E radar and the electronic warfare hardware ( jamming ) to operate simultaneously without degrading each other . The new radar is to be used in the F - 15E Radar Modernization Program ( RMP ) . In 2009 , the proposed APG - 63 ( V ) 4 radar was designated APG - 82 . AN / APQ - 180 . The APQ - 180 is a derivative of the APG - 70 radar , designed for installation on the AC - 130U gunship aircraft ( Rockwell / Boeing modification ) . It uses a modified gimbaling scheme for the planar array , and an upgraded analog signal processor unit , and incorporates several enhanced ( and new ) air - to - ground modes . AN / AWG - 20 . AN / AWG - 20 is the Armament Control System used in conjunction with F - 15 radars . AN / AWG - 27 . AN / AWG - 27 is Programmable Armament Control System developed from earlier AWG - 20 for use in conjunction with F - 15 radars .