Question: Should multimission fighters have Synthetic aperture radar for air-to-surface missions?
I think they should be. Because old passive radars cannot detect static targets.
Yes they have IIR cameras.Thermal imaging can be deceiving on Earth, especially during the summer months. In winter, snow and rain interfere with thermal imaging.
Now you will say "There are AESA radars, they can see everything." So next question
How will the AESA radar, which only looks straight ahead from the nose, scan the surface ? How could it map moving or stationary targets?
"The AN/APG-83 features all-weather, high-resolution synthetic aperture radar mapping to present the pilot with a large surface image for more precise target identification and strike capabilities compared to legacy systems. "
BALTIMORE – July 14, 2021 – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has adopted Lean-Agile methodologies in the development and integration of the active electronically scanned array (AESA) AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar software for the F-16 Viper...
news.northropgrumman.com
Gripen's rotating AESA radar was designed for this purpose. Turning it to the left and right, the RADAR creates a map of landscape . By turning its radar, it can lock missile on stationary tanks or buildings.
So KAAN, Hürjet , Kızılelma and other UAVs -which have MURAD AESA radars - should have different shaped - moving MURAD AEAS for air to ground missions.
What a pity we don't have aviation engineeers or veteran fighter pilots here. We should ask everything to @Anmdt