Phased array technology featured heavily in radar contracts and other activities during September. Platforms ranged from large ground-based early warning radar (EWR) systems to scaled-down AESAs for incorporation into unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) technology dominated a host of radar contract announcements during September including news of Northrop Grumman completing tests of its Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) S-band radar system as well as demonstrating technologies for the Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar (3DELRR) program. Raytheon was also actively involved in the supply of AESA-based systems, receiving a second contract for low-rate initial production (LRIP) of AN/APG-82(V)1 AESA radar systems for the U.S. Air Force F-15E Radar Modernization Program.

In other areas, Harris, L-3 Communications and Selex Elsag were supplying communications systems, Boeing received further contracts for Laser JDAM kits and ITT Exelis announced another successful demonstration of its Advanced Defensive Electronic Warfare System (AIDEWS). The use of laser technology was also being demonstrated. MBDA Germany achieved a power of 40 kW using its high-energy laser demonstrator during a laser firing campaign while ITT Exelis is partnering with Innovative Technical Solutions to develop a laser communications system for the US Navy and Marine Corps.

Business news for the month was dominated by the discussions between Europe's largest defense corporations, BAE Systems and EADS. The deal has been shelved primarily as a result of the respective UK, France and German governments not being able to agree on terms. BAE Systems-EADS Merger Dead in the Water provides some more thoughts on this news.

Clients of the ADS service can read the full report Defense Electronics Industry Review: September 2012 which details significant defense industry news, including product announcements, milestones, contract activity and defense industry financial performance.

Asif

Eurosatory is held in Paris on a biannual basis with Eurosatory 2012 continuing to focus as an event centered on land and air platforms. The event boasted over 53,000 attendees and included a new focus on security this year including cyber. There were a range of technologies showcased at Eurosatory 2012 emphasizing the importance of enhancing capabilities and meeting the needs of SwaP-constrained platforms.

The growing use of COTS-based platforms was also highlighted by both DRS Technologies and Harris with the introduction of ruggedized, Military-grade Android-based handheld computer and tablet products. Elektrobit’s Counter-RCIED platform was demonstrated as a potential tool for convoy mission planning. Rohde & Schwarz was emphasizing the use of IP technologies for radio communication platforms. Finally, there was a range of radar technologies on show with Cassidian, FLIR and Camero showing solutions targeting applications from border surveillance to through-wall imaging.

IMS 2012 was held in Montreal, Canada for the first time in its 60 year history and a strong industrial program was complimented with a good mix of technical sessions and social events. While attendance was flat, there was an overall increase of around 40% year-on-year in the number of paper submissions.

Main themes that came out of the technical sessions centered on low cost millimeter-wave technologies based on Si CMOS. Terahertz technologies also continued to be a key topic with new concepts and a look towards integrated devices. Finally, nanotechnology was discussed in technical sessions with tunable devices including MEMS-based switches looking to commercial markets. Other areas of interest identified included energy harvesting, wireless energy transmission and the use of RF technologies in biomedical applications as well as the role RF will play in the “Internet of Everything”.

On the show floor, there was a positive atmosphere with companies focused on both commercial and defense markets. Strategy Analytics was also on the show floor to kick off a series of Richardson RFPD Supplier presentations where we outlined our thoughts on how GaN is becoming a pivotal technology in the defense sector. Strategy Analytics’ breakfast session at IMS 2012 was held in conjunction with Microwave Journal this year and included participation from Cree, Nitronex, NXP, RFMD, TriQuint and UMS with the presentations serving as a platform to confirm the applicability of GaN to addressing communications, electronic warfare, and radar applications.

The need for wideband communications including demand from the UAV and SATCOM sector at Ku-band and the need to address Ka-band requirements from SOTM, missile seekers and other communications applications is also driving opportunities for GaN device suppliers. However, while GaN technology hits a lot of the parameters being asked for by military system designers, other technologies including TWTs, LDMOS and SiC will also continue to play a role in future defense system design.

Finally, the Farnborough International Airshow 2012 took place in July acting as a conduit for the trade, with orders and commitments covering a total of 758 aircraft and worth $72 billion. More impressive, given the current economic uncertainty was the fact that the order value represented a 53 percent increase on 2010.

Attendance was equally impressive with just over 107,000 trade visitors and over 1500 exhibitors with representation right across the supply chain. Over 70 military delegations from 46 countries attended with a further 13 delegations from the civil sector. The UK Prime Minister opened the show, and other UK Cabinet members made keynote speeches, with other senior ministers visiting from the UK and overseas.

Over 140 aircraft took part in the static and flying displays at the Farnborough Aerodrome in Hampshire. While the Airbus A400M was unable to fly (again!) due to mechanical issues, the Airbus A380 was in attendance and other flying display highlights included the Korean T50 jet trainer, the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Saab Gripen Fighter.

Perhaps surprisingly, the continuing requirement for a range of technologies was emphasized during meetings at Farnborough. TMD Technologies was showcasing its S-band TWT solutions as well as highlighting the capabilities of the company’s X-band 8kW PAMs which can be combined with up to 12 units to enable land-based radar solutions and provide the graceful degradation typically associated with GaAs and GaN-based AESA systems. On the GaAs front, Plextek’s Blighter B400 FMCW/Doppler Ku-band PESA radar was being demonstrated and Eletronnica was also showcasing GaAs-based solutions with the Virgilius EW system which provides both ESM and jamming functionality based around an AESA RF front-end.

In conclusion, there were a range of technologies showcased at all the shows with radar, communications and electronic warfare capabilities and requirements driving demand for technologies that can enhance the capabilities of existing platforms as well as meet the ever growing need to optimize SWaP parameters across both existing and emerging platforms.

Clients of the ADS service can read the full reports on the Eurosatory, IMS and Farnborough shows:

Defense Technology Highlights from Eurosatory 2012

RF Technologies for Defense at IMS 2012 Centered on GaN

Satellites, UAVs, Radar and Travelling Wave Tubes at Farnborough 2012

Also, don’t miss our regular column in Microwave Journal’s Military Microwaves.

See Defence iQ for more analysis on the defense industry, related news and events.

Asif

Spending on land/ground-based EW (electronic warfare) platforms and systems will see a sharp decline over the next two years as troop withdrawals from Iraq (completed) and Afghanistan obviate demand. The Strategy Analytics Advanced Defense Systems (ADS) service report, “Technology Trends for Land-based Electronic Warfare Systems,” forecasts global spending on ground/land-based EW platforms and systems will drop by an average 27% through 2014 as expenditure that has typically been centered upon these theatres draws to a close.

However, the withdrawal from these theatres will not change the general trends towards asymmetric warfare and unfortunately, the use of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and RCIEDs (radio-controlled improvised explosive devices) will continue to proliferate. Nations will look to leverage the experience gained to facilitate troops in counteracting the threats of IEDs and RCIEDs in similar situations moving forwards.

Key to developing future EW system capabilities will be an evolutionary approach. The emphasis will be on flexibility, power, modularity, and this is influencing the design of systems as well as the enabling technologies used.

As the signal environment continues to become more complex and congested, RF-based systems, systems will need to be able to look at the complete frequency range. This will require higher performing FPGAs, analog-to-digital converters and wider use of GaN-based RF front-ends to facilitate the development of systems that provide wide-band multi-bit real-time direct RF sampling and processing.

Demand for ground/land-based EW systems will re-emerge from 2015 onwards with global expenditure forecast to exceed $1 billion in 2022.

Clients of the ADS service can read the full report here.

Also, don’t miss my monthly column in the Microwave Journal’s Military Microwaves.

See Defence iQ for more analysis on the defense industry, related news and event.

Asif

In electronic warfare (EW) the US Army Contracting Command, MICC, Aberdeen Proving Ground awarded BAE Systems E&IS, Electronic Warfare - Information Dominance Systems (IDS) a contract for procurement of SIGINT Traveler Pod (T-Pod) Systems for the MQ-1C Sky Warrior / Gray Eagle UAS while ITT Exelis has successfully installed and tested an advanced self-defense electronic warfare system on F-16 aircraft operated by an international customer.

Looking ahead, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon joined forces to compete for a US Navy contract that will upgrade the fleet's capability to electronically attack anti-ship missiles.

Through its Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block 3 upgrade, the Navy seeks to cost effectively enhance the electronic attack capability of its AN/SLQ-32 V(3) and V(4) EW systems to counter threat technology advances. All US aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers and other warships use the AN/SLQ-32 EW system.

Staying with EW, the team of ITT Exelis and Boeing has successfully successfully demonstrated multiple critical technology elements, including digital beam-forming, mid band and high band power amplifiers as part of the U.S. Navy Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) program’s technology maturation phase.

The digital beam-forming technology demonstrated recent advancements made in broad band electronically steerable antenna arrays which have come through the use of AESA technology in the radar field. As discussed during the Strategy Analytics webinar, “AESA Radar Trends: Fast-jets and Beyond” AESA technology is starting to extend beyond radar into EW and communications applications and the NGJ program is one example.

Another aspect discussed in “AESA Radar Trends: Fast-jets and Beyond” is the move towards GaN-based technology and NGJ program again affirms our prediction that GaN technology will become a pivotal technology for future generations of radar, communications and EW systems.

Other developments in the first month of January 2012 included Harris Corporation reporting several communications contracts. In the weapons area, MBDA was awarded the FLAADS Demonstration Phase Contract by the UK Ministry of Defence to develop the SEA CEPTOR naval air defence system. Finally, in radar applications, Raytheon received additional contracts for maintenance of the COBRA DANE radar facility while Elta Systems anticipates the first sale of its developmental system as Airbus Military completed initial flight test activities on an AEW&C derivative of its C-295 medium transport.

To read more about defense industry events in January, see Defense Electronics Industry Review: January 2012 which covers defense industry news for the month of January, covering radar, electronic warfare, weapons systems and communications. The report also looks at microwave, optoelectronic and other components discussing business event, product announcments, milestones and contract activity.

This year's Defence & Security Equipment International (DSEi) exhibition, played host to over 29,000 attendees who converged in London to view possibly the world's largest display of land, sea and air applications of defence and security products and technologies. The exhibition featured almost 1400 exhibiting companies representing 46 countries and included 30 national pavilions.

Key trends observed at the show confirmed Strategy Analytics assertions related to AESA radar, wideband technologies and the expanding mission envelope of UAV platforms.

BAE Systems and Cassidian were both showcasing examples of how quickly AESA technology is now taking over the radar landscape.  A visit to the BAE Systems stand provided a brief overview of the company’s radar portfolio based around AESA technology utilizing GaAs T/R modules. In air defense radar the ARTISAN 3D system includes “e-stab” and along with compact variants, the company currently has 19 systems on order with the UK Royal Navy. On the naval front, BAE Systems has the SAMPSON multifunction radar and the company is also targeting air surveillance and commercial air traffic control requirements with variants of its EWACS multifunction land radar.

Cassidian was showcasing the launch of the TRS-4D naval radar. The TRS-4D is a surveillance and target multifunction radar.  The TRS-4D is an AESA radar combined with mechanical rotation in azimuth to provide continuous 360 degree scanning combined with the ability to direct the electronic beam towards areas of interest for a “deep look” as the beam is deflected. Other benefits cited included the ability to detect more targets and smaller targets down to 0.01m2.

Electronic beam deflection also allows the TRS-4D to significantly improve on the detection offered by conventional mechanically scanned rotating radars which can typically be as high as 6 seconds. Detection target verification time is reduced to 1 second with the TRS-4D. Added flexibility is achieved by stopping the antenna rotation so that a docked ship can perform a horizon search and be used to counter asymmetric threats as well as be used for search and rescue operations. 

Significantly, the TRS-4D is using GaN T/R modules and reportedly represents the first implementation of GaN technology for radar applications at 5~6GHz. The system utilizes a low noise receiver array on GaAs technology and is configured to enable digital beamforming.

Elektrobit is a Finnish company that has worked with the domestic armed forces and international partners for over 15 years. The company’s focus is on tactical communications, EW and SIGINT. While the company has many years of experience, the company has only recently started to productize its portfolio and used DSEi to showcase some of its capabilities, which included wideband sensors for SIGINT and COMINT applications. Elektrobit is also offering a counter RCIED platform that the company is marketing to OEMs and systems integrators for development of products. The company has a roadmap towards networked multifunctional products that will be able to monitor the spectrum and jam intelligently, working collaboratively with a sensor network.

Another company showcasing its products for the EW sector was Netline. An Israeli company, Netline is focused on the development and manufacture of counter IED and RF jammers. Products cover the VHF and UHF frequency range and extend through to 6GHz. Products range from vehicle-based solutions and man portable and include an emphasis on reactive portable jamming. The company uses off-the-shelf PA technology including GaN and LDMOS.

Looking at the expanding mission envelope for UAV platforms, Insitu was present at DSEi to woo international customers, having already achieved some measure of success in Australia, Canada and Poland. The company has introduced a ScanEagle variant which incorporates a dual-bay to allow additional sensors to be fitted with the additional sensors sitting in a bay behind the EO-IR sensor bay. Insitu believes this will allow the company to to offer new mission capabilities to both existing and new customers as well as providing (improved) existing mission capabilities for existing and new customers. 

The dual-bay will allow the company to incorporate radar, communications, camera and EW capabilities. Insitu has implemented X-band AESA radar in this format where the radar can be used to cue the EO-IR sensor to provide additional classification opportunities for maritime surveillance and other homeland security/border applications. Field exercises of this capability have been implemented.

The dual-bay format also allows implementation of comms relay capabilities at UHF/VHF frequencies, connecting voice/data for troops that do not have LOS (line-of-sight); this could also be used for humanitarian/disaster relief scenarios where existing infrastructure may not be operational. Insitu is also looking at the potential for air-to-air communications.

Finally, the dual-bay capability also opens the possibility for other payloads to be implemented targeting electronic warfare. Insitu is considering the use of both passive and active payloads and is working with customers and partners to develop these capabilities.

Overall, DSEi offered an insight into how the next generation of radar, EW and comms systems will make use of technologies to enable wideband, net-centric operations while maintaining a focus on SWaP (size, weight and power). When DSEi returns to London in 2013, we should expect to see AESA technology established as the primary form of radar across all domains, and wideband, high power requirements from communications and EW driving continued demand for RF technologies.

The latest ADS report, "Defense Electronics Industry Review: July 2011" covers defense industry news in July 2011. The focus is on news related to defense systems/electronics and avionics emphasizing radar, communications & navigation, electronic warfare, weapon systems, sensors and others.

International activity provided the largest contract awards for July with Thales and Dassault involved in a deal worth about $1.42 billion as part of India's plans to upgrade its Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft fleet. Meanwhile the UK has signed a deal worth $1bn with the US Government for three RC-135W Rivet Joint signals intelligence aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The MoU establishes a cooperative agreement through to 2025 for the support of the UK Rivet Joint system while also partially bridging the gap in capabilities between the decommissioned Nimrod R1s and the introduction of the RAF's new aircraft.

The increasing pace of AESA-based capability deployment was also being demonstrating with Northrop Grumman's RQ-4B Block 40 Global Hawk completing its first full system flight with the high performance AN/ZPY-2, also referred to as the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP) sensor. This will deliver long range, very high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR), ground moving target indicator (GMTI) capabilities and air target tracking. The flight took place at Edwards Air Force Base, CA, on July 21.

Sticking with phased array technology, M/A-COM Tech, announced that the Multifunction Phased Array Radar (MPAR) Panel has been named as one of R&D Magazines' 2011 R&D 100 Winners. Co-developed by M/A-COM Tech and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory under sponsorship from the Federal Aviation Administration, the MPAR Phased Array Panel aims to consolidate up to eight separate radar systems.

On the weapons systems front, Raytheon was awarded a contract modification for engineering and technical services in support of the MK15 Phalanx Close-In-Weapon System. The contract combines purchases for the United States government and the governments of Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Taiwan under the Foreign Military Sales Program.

Harris continued to dominate contracting activity in the communications sector with several contract awards totaling over $76 million with the Falcon III AN/PRC-117G featuring prominently amongst the orders for Falcon II and Falcon III variants. Meanwhile NovelSat claims to have the solution to MilSatCom bandwidth constraints with its NS3 satellite transmission modulation technology that the company claims can improve satellite bandwidth by up to 78%.

On the EO-IR side, BAE Systems was awarded another task order to produce the Driver's Vision Enhancer Family of Systems (DVE-FOS), a system of infrared sensors that provide 24-hour all-weather visibility for operators of U.S. Army and Marine Corps vehicles, while Cassidian announced a contract to provide its missile launch detection system (MILDS) equipment for KAI Surion transport helicopters operated by the South Korean army.

Space was a focus for digital processing with both Microsemi and Xilinx were targeting space-based applications. Xilinx announced availability of its radiation-hardened-by-design space-grade Virtex-5QV FPGA, while Microsemi was claiming to be the first FPGA supplier to achieve AS9100 Rev C certification for aviation, space, and defense markets.

Finally, on the RF component front, Hittite unveiled several products that included aerospace and defense amongst the target applications. TriQuint also unveiled a high-linearity power amplifier designed using the firm's GaAs power pHEMT production process to operate at 10?12 GHz for X-band communication applications.

TriQuint also announced the appointment of a new VP for its Defense and Aerospace business. James Klein was most recently with Raytheon in the Space and Airborne Systems division and responsible for design and manufacturing of advanced RF and microwave subsystems and components. He'll be working with TriQuint's current VP and General Manager of Defense and Aerospace, Thomas Cordner during a transitionary phase before Mr. Cordner retires after a successful career. We wish Tom the best of luck in his future endeavours.

This blog is reproduced from Asif Anwar's regular 'Expert Insights' column for the Microwave Journal Military Defence Column.

Electronic Warfare uses the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) in three roles across air, sea, and land warfare domains; Electronic Attack (EA), Electronic Protection (EP), and Electronic Warfare Support (ES).

• Electronic Attack (EA) involves the use of EM energy to attack enemy forces, facilities and equipment with the intent of degrading, neutralizing or destroying capabilities including communications, radar and EW.
• Electronic Protection (EP) is defined as the protection of friendly forces from inadvertent impacts of both friendly and enemy use of EMS.
• Electronic Warfare Support (ES) involves the active searching, interception and locating of EM energy, be it intentional or otherwise. This then supports immediate threat recognition as well as enabling the targeting, planning and conduct of operations.

Regardless of the roles and domains in which Electronic Warfare is employed, communications is a crucial foundation for the successful use of EW systems, and MilSatComs will play an increasingly important role in both traditional and asymmetric warfare scenarios.

Examples include the use MilSatComs to provide a beyond-line-of-sight linkage between ground forces requesting air EW strikes and airborne platforms circling elsewhere that need to be quickly dispatched to the combat location, backup against EW attacks on terrestrial ground communications, the incorporation of IED detection capabilities combined with MilSatComs as UAV platforms become relay nodes and the use of MilSatComs to allow joint coordination of MNF (multinational forces) units at the tactical level (air, sea, and ground), whether for EW or kinetic warfare.

Strategy Analytics sees the strategic importance of MilSatComs for EW operations increasing though there are several recommendations that will need to be successfully implemented over the next decade to ensure full efficacy. In particular, while countries such as the US are developing Electromagnetic Battlefield Management (EMBM) systems within a net-centric doctrine, Strategy Analytics believes there is a "perception deficit", with the electronic warfare domain not commanding the same cachet as cyberspace. This has the potential to hamstring successful implementation of combined MilSatCom EW strategy especially if this results in a failure to balance budgetary pressures with on-going technology development. The Strategy Analytics Advanced Defense Systems (ADS) service report, "The Strategic Impact of Milsatcoms on Electronic Warfare," provides an overview of both MilSatCom and EW technologies and platforms and discusses implementation strategies that will drive closer synergies in the future.

This blog is reproduced from Asif Anwar's regular 'Expert Insights' column for the Microwave Journal Military Defence Column.

Defense news for the past month was dominated by the Paris Air Show though the deals were outclassed by the record civil aerospace deals. In likely the biggest single defense deal, the Paris Air Show saw Raytheon announce a $1.7 billion Direct Commercial Sales contract to upgrade Saudi Arabia's Patriot Air and Missile Defense System to the latest Configuration-3.

In radar-related news, Eurofighter and Euroradar secured funds for full scale development programme of the E-Scan radar, confirming the 2015 entry into service date. Selex Galileo (who leads the Euroradar consortium) was also awarded a contract by Worldwide Aeros Corporation, a US prime contractor for aerostat vehicles, to deliver its Seaspray 7500E AESA radar for a ground-surveillance tethered aerostat balloon operated by the Republic of Korea Army. Meanwhile, Northrop Grumman demonstrated its STARLite radar on a U.S. Army Persistent Threat Detection System (PTDS), another aerostat surveillance platform.

Another variant of Selex Galileo's Seaspray radar is to be installed on Dornier 228 maritime patrol aircraft operated by the Finnish Border Guard (Rajavartiolaitos) and the company has also been selected to provide Gabbiano-series radars for Israeli manufacturer Elbit Systems' Hermes 450 and Hermes 900 unmanned air vehicles.

Airborne radar systems also saw a new entrant to the market with the Airbus Military C295 development aircraft making its first flight fitted with an AEW&C rotodome; the latter will be static since the primary sensor will be the IAI/ELTA 4th Generation AESA radar with integrated IFF. The platform is designed to be a competitor to turboprops like the E-2D Hawkeye and Saab 340/2000 Erieye - as well as mid-tier jet options like Brazil's EMB-145 AEW&C, or IAI's own Gulfstream G550 CAEW.

Maritime surveillance continues to make use of unmanned systems providing opportunities for radar suppliers also. Raytheon delivered the first of three SeaVue expanded mission capability radars to the US Customs and Border Protection. Raytheon delivered the first production radar in the record time of just six months. This radar will be installed on US Customs and Border Protection's second Guardian unmanned aircraft system, a maritime variant of the Predator B.

AESA technology is also starting to figure in missile technology with MBDA unveiling the output of the Concept Visions process for 2011; the CVS 401 Perseus concept missile system, which represents the group's vision of a multi-role strike weapon system for 2030 and beyond an advanced dual-mode sensor package comprising an AESA radar combined with a laser radar or LADAR to allow for all-weather operations in all configurations of terminal engagement. Radar modes such as SAR and DBS are designed to enable long range target detection and discrimination in complex land and naval tactical environments including those involving advanced counter measures.

On the EW front, Danish company Terma was prolific with announcements coming from AugustaWestland, Eurocopter and the Polish Defense for helicopter based EW systems while the Norwegian Air Force chose Terma's pylon-based MWS (missile warning system) for their F-16s. However, the most high profile EW contract was probably related to Boeing announcing its supplier team for the US Air Force's KC-46 Tanker with Raytheon set to supply ALR-69A digital radar warning receivers and digital anti-jam receiver global positioning systems.

Rockwell Collins celebrated the first full-rate production delivery of its ARC-210 RT-1939(C) Generation 5 radio to PMA 209, the air combat electronics program office of the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command. The fifth-generation ARC-210 is reportedly the first airborne software-defined radio to hit the market and is a multi-band, multimode receiver-transmitter operating in the V/UHF frequency range, providing extended coverage from 30 to 941 MHz for military and public service radio bands.

Meanwhile Harris had several contracts to supply variants of its Falcon III multiband, multi-mission, software-defined radios as well as issuing software upgrades to expand network coverage. The company also conducted technology demonstrators in conjunction with Cubic that allow UAS video and targeting data to be delivered to fighters operating at the tactical edge. Cobham also received a DARPA contract to develop a highly-capable, cost-effective military radio for use by ground personnel, leveraging investments previously made by DARPA under the Wireless Network after Next (WNaN) program.

MTT-S provided a platform for GaN technologies with announcements from Cree, Fujitsu, Integra, M/A-COM, Microsemi, NXP, RFMD and TriQuint. Product introductions ranged from L-band through to Ku-band. While the early defense implementation for GaN technology has focused on EW applications, products announcements at the show focused on communications and radar applications. Custom MMIC Design Services Inc. (CMDS) has been awarded its second Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase II contract from the United States Army to develop millimeter-wave, high linearity, high power amplifiers on GaN for Satcom systems. Toshiba meanwhile launched a new 25W GaN HEMT targeting Satcom applications including VSAT at Ku-band.

Devices showcased included both transistors and MMICs with companies such as Cree and Fujitsu outlining the development of chipsets that incorporate both the receive and transmit functionality of a module in GaN technology. Moving away from RF front-ends, TriQuint highlighted some the milestones it has been achieving including continued development of GaN digital circuitry as part of the NEXT program, while Northrop Grumman demonstrated GaN implementation of high power digital controlled artificial dielectric (DiCAD) reconfigurable transmission lines by integrating GaN HEMT switches and metal insulator-metal capacitors (MIMCAPs) into coplanar strip transmission lines as a way of moving towards reconfigurable RF/microwave circuits. The plethora of announcements point to the growing maturity of GaN and will ensure continued success for the companies involved in the development of this RF semiconductor technology.

Strategy Analytics' annual analyst forum at MTT-S took place on Tuesday 7^th June and examined the broad theme of "Commercial and Defense Market Opportunities for RF Semiconductors". The ADS service presentation looked at the impact of budget constraints on future defense technology investment.

Defense budgets have gone through numerous cycles that can be characterised by specific periods. As an example, the "cold war" period saw strong support for defense budgets driven by nationalism and a drive towards developing platforms that went "higher, faster, further" than the other guys. Following 9/11, the global war on terror signified a new era of conflict where the enemy was not necessarily clearly defined in terms of national borders and military branches. Budgets went through a growth phase as a new emphasis on ISR capabilities was coupled with urgent operational requirements, e.g. counter IED equipment, being defined by the warfighter in theatres such as Iraq and Afghanistan. The current situation sees multiple fronts with both asymmetric threats continuing as well as more conventional theatres in play such as Libya. This should ideally protect budgets but global economics have forced governments to rethink defense priorities as part of their efforts to balance the books.

The US is the largest global spender as far as budgets are concerned and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. However, based on current and projected budgetary requests, our analysis suggests that US defense spending will see a decline over the next ten years with a negative CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 1% through 2021 and the situation will be even worse in Europe.

On the other hand,  the threat of new capabilities and pressure from emerging national powers as well as ongoing threat scenarios will mean the spending slowdown will not be universal and across the board for all defense platforms and systems. There is a balancing act being played out between conventional and asymmetric theatres and we are starting to see hybrid warfare scenarios where there are elements of both conflict types in play. Regardless of the type of conflict, technology is the differentiator which will allow allied forces to maintain an edge over the opposing forces and for defense platforms, this means that while budgetary pressures remain, there is an opportunity for emerging platforms as well as a focus on upgrading existing capabilities.

If we take US expenditure on air platforms as an example (excluding RDT&E), Strategy Analytics estimates that US DoD budget expenditure on all major aircraft platforms exceeded $27 billion in 2010 with UAS platforms accounting for 18% of expenditure in 2010. We see expenditure on conventional platforms remaining flat through 2021. On the other hand, UAS expenditure is expected to grow and account for 31% of expenditure by 2021. This translates to US military expenditure on UAS platforms growing at a CAGR of 3% through 2021 growing from an estimated $5 billion in 2010 to over $6.5 billion in 2021 (see US DoD Budget Implications for UAS Electronics Demand).

The other dynamic in this respect relates to the systems being implemented on these platforms as a result of expanding mission envelopes. The electronic content in a UAS platform depends on payload capacity, mission, degree of redundancy, number of sensors, integration levels etc. The proportion attributable to electronics on a UAS platform will depend on the size of the system and mission objectives, which in turn determine the number of sensors and associated electronics required. As these systems and mission objectives become increasingly sophisticated, Strategy Analytics forecasts a 3% CAGR growth in the market for electronic systems from 2011 to 2021, resulting in an electronic systems market worth over $2.1 billion. EW, radar and communications systems will account for around 64% of this demand.

Regardless of the platform, communications, EW and radar systems all have to work in the electromagnetic spectrum and the capabilities that these systems have to bring are expanding while at the same time converging around specific parameters such as broadband performance, power, linearity and digitization.

Looking at the communications systems in general, common trends across the board include a move towards higher frequencies, e.g. land radios moving through to 2.7GHz, coupled with a need to have multi-mode, multi-band capabilities that will enable these radios to act as nodes in the total battlespace. This is coupled with an emphasis on data and efficient spectrum use that will drive linearity requirements as well as the continued development of SDR and cognitive radio capabilities.

For RF-based EW systems, the trends point towards what may be described as a "no channel" concept in which the systems are tasked with looking at complete frequency ranges resulting in multiple channels being handled by one receiver. For jamming applications this has to be coupled with high power capabilities across the frequency range which could conceivably extend through to Ka-band.

Finally, the evolution of radar systems towards AESA (active electronically scanned array) is driving the use of compound semiconductors as thousands of T/R modules provide the basis for multi-role capabilities as well increasing reliability while the scalability enables the use of these advanced radars on an increasing number of platforms.

The next step in examining these systems is to look at the enabling RF technologies of which there is a wide range from Si, SiGe, GaAs, GaN as well as TWTs, with each technology offering specific advantages. While there is a temptation to target a specific technology as representing the panacea for all applications, the reality is that no one semiconductor technology solution will singularly satisfy every system requirement. The result will be segmentation of functionality with different technologies used side-by-side depending on the requirements of the system and platform.

This blog is reproduced from Asif Anwar's regular 'Expert Insights' column for the Microwave Journal Military Defence Column.

April saw a fair number of reports of test successes for major programs for various armed forces across the globe with activity in radar and weapons systems particularly prominent.

On the radar front, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman completed a significant milestone for the Cobra Judy Replacement program by delivering the CJR S-band active phased-array antenna to the CJR integration site at Kiewit Offshore Services, Corpus Christi, Texas. Meanwhile, Raytheon's JLENS (Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System) successfully demonstrated tracking targets of opportunity in the Salt Lake City air space. Northrop Grumman started system tests of a new Multi-Function Active Sensor (MFAS) being developed for use by the U.S. Navy onboard the MQ-4C Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Unmanned Aircraft System (BAMS UAS). Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin's Tactical Reconnaissance and Counter-Concealment-Enabled Radar, TRACER, completed flight testing aboard a Predator B MQ-9 Unmanned Aerial System.

On the weapon systems front, Raytheon's SLAMRAAM (Surface Launched Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile) system successfully destroyed an unmanned aerial vehicle target and intercepted a cruise missile target at White Sands Missile Range, N.M and also completed the first flight test of a Standard Missile-3 Block IA against an IRBM (Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile). Northrop Grumman worked with the U.S. Navy to successfully demonstrate high-energy, solid-state laser defenses at sea by completing a "counter-material" test of the Maritime Laser Demonstrator (MLD) against small boats. At the French DGA-Essais Missiles test centre in Biscarosse, South West France, a VL MICA missile launched from a ground based vertical launcher and controlled by a Tactical Operations Centre (TOC) developed by MBDA, intercepted a manoeuvring target flying at medium altitude and at a range greater than 15 km.

Merger & Acquisition activity in April continued at the same pace with eight defense-oriented mergers, acquisitions and similar partnerships in the past four weeks and defense sector contract orders also showed few signs of let up in the past month. Raytheon had a particularly strong month with accumulated contracts totalling around $400 million for April. Harris also maintained its contract momentum in the communications sector with several contracts including an agreement to supply the Canadian Navy with maritime wideband terminals.

Northrop Grumman demonstrated industry leading performance for its GaN modules conducting 180 days of continuous tests to validate the use of this technology for future radar, EW and communications systems. On the broader component front, US Navy researchers have put out requests for the development of innovative anti-tamper techniques so potential enemies cannot reverse-engineer U.S. military-critical technology.

Further analysis of the defense industry including business news, contracts and new product launches during the month of March can be found in the Strategy Analytics report, Defense Electronics Industry Review: April 2011.