Ongoing activity in March and April included mergers and acquisitions, product launches and milestones, as well as seemingly healthy contract activity, but financials continue to emphasize the difficulties faced by the defense industry. Strategy Analytics Advanced Defense Systems (ADS) service reports, "Defense Electronics Industry Review: March 2013," and "Defense Electronics Industry Review: April 2013," detail significant defense industry news, including product announcements, milestones, contract activity and defense industry financial performance as the first quarter of 2013 came to a close.

Taking a snapshot of financials from companies including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and United Technologies, revenues were by and large flat for most companies for the first quarter of 2013. The defense industry continues to focus on streamlining operations and ensuring profitability as revenue growth slows, stagnates or declines. While revenues stayed on a par with the prior year, most company outlooks point to full-year revenues declines as purchases are offset and uncertainty around future expenditure remains.

However, revenues are not the whole story and activity around contracts, business tie-ups, product launches and milestones remained robust over March and April. March saw several key systems passing tests such as the Northrop Grumman AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) and Raytheon testing a dual-band datalink with a Thales Nederland Advanced Phased Array Radar (APAR). The competition to upgrade fourth generation fast-jet platforms with fifth generation capabilities such as active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar is also starting to heat up with offerings from Raytheon and Northrop Grumman targeted at the F-16 platform. While the competition for the US fleet is yet to be initiated, the first skirmish between the solutions has gone the way of Raytheon’s Raytheon Advanced Combat Radar (RACR) AESA radar selected by the Republic of Korea to upgrade the country's KF-16C/D Block 52 Fighting Falcon fleet.

There were a number of new semiconductor products released over March and April targeted for use in defense systems and platforms. TriQuint was announcing products in conjunction with GOMACTech 2013 with the release of broadband integrated packaged solutions that combine a limiter with LNA for use in radar and electronic warfare as well as a 25W Ku-band GaN RF power amplifier for satellite communications. Comtech Xicom Technology also focused on GaN with the introduction of a compact and highly efficient GaN-based amplifier for X-band MILSATCOM service in March and followed this with a GaN 6-to-18 GHz RF amplifier for electronic warfare, radar transmitters, and communications applications in April. API Technologies also expanded its GaN power amplifier line targeting electronic warfare, RCIED countermeasures, and national security jammer applications. GaAs-based products were also in the offing with OMMIC announcing sampling of three new production ready X band power amplifiers as well as GaAs-based products from Custom MMIC and M/A-COM Tech.

Clients of the ADS service can read the full report here

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

The use of space is increasing and becoming an essential component for infrastructure in communications, navigation and timing, agriculture and weather monitoring and disaster relief efforts. The importance of satellites in the military domain is going to continue to increase as nations typically associated with space power look to maintain and update capabilities and other nations look to establish themselves by taking advantage of technology and platform advances.

Military satellites have, for some time, formed the backbone of military communication, reconnaissance and navigation capabilities. This is a fundamental capability area in what is becoming a far more contested and congested area of operation. As military satellite platforms share development with commercial ventures and defense authorities look to alternative platform sizes, the utilization of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components will also increase in prominence. Technology enhancements at the component and system level will also include GaAs-based triple junction solar cells, GaN-based power amplifiers and the use of phased array antennas. The capabilities of Ka-band are also being actively examined for military satellite communications and will form an increasingly staple part of the military satellite communications portfolio over the coming years.

Advances in small satellite technology have elevated the status of small satellites from just being “military relevant” to “laptop in space” platforms that can offer capabilities and advantages over traditional platforms in certain operational environs. We will see more utilization as they complement traditional satellite platforms. From an operational perspective, small satellites will increasingly be used to provide added situational awareness to supplement the close-up view that can be provided with tactical UAVs.

The fiscally constrained environment will result in more cooperation between nations on developing and sharing capabilities although this will have to be balanced with maintaining sovereign capabilities. As well the pooling of resources, we will also see Public Private Partnership (PPP) schemes such as the UK’s Private Finance Initiative (PFI) being used to fund future capabilities in space and increasing use of dual-use strategies.

Clients of the ADS service can read the full report:

Military Satellite Trends and Outlook

Asif

The thirtieth annual MILCOM Conference and Exposition, "Networks…Attaining the Value," was held at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland, November 7-10.

The commercial sector will continue to drive innovation and we will see continued use of commercially-based technologies such as smartphones and tablets as well as networks being adapted for use in the military sector. One example was Lockheed Martin’s MONAX provides users with a 4G private network they can operate anywhere. This secure broadband network system connects off-the-shelf Smartphones to a bespoke cellular base station infrastructure that can be carried into a disaster relief area or be used on a FOB (forward operating base). By using a secure RF Link, communications are protected through strong exportable encryption enabling the transfer of pertinent and sensitive information.

Elektrobit was emphasizing the EB Android handset platform which provides integrated cellular connectivity options including LTE with Band 14 support for the U.S. Public Safety market, a high-resolution touch-screen enabled display with superior sunlight readability, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and advanced battery and power management features.

Software is an important lynchpin in the implementation of commercial hardware for military applications and Wind River was demonstrating embedded virtualization and Android solutions at MILCOM 2011 while Twisted Pair was highlighting the company’s WAVE application, designed to enable communications across smartphones, tablets etc. that are using Wi-Fi or cellular networks with tactical radios being used in-theatre.

However, the need for dedicated waveforms, specific form factors and performance capabilities will, for example, mean that devices such as smartphone will not replace tactical radios, but rather be another tool in the warfighter’s arsenal of communications capabilities.

BAE Systems was emphasizing the company’s Link 16 SAFF (small adaptable form factor) terminal which is designed to support future Link 16 enhancements and is used in conjunction with the Data Link Processor (DLP) unit to provide a battlespace awareness picture.

Raytheon’s Maingate system combines a high capacity networked radio with Maingate’s Interoperability Gateway to connect current and future forces to the Global Information Grid. The multi-mode, multi-band radio employs UHF/VHF frequencies (around 700MHz) and can operate in TV whitespace as well and provides up to 2 channels at 10Mbps and is designed to provide a terrestrial ‘Everything over IP’ MANET (mobile adhoc network) backbone to support multiple channels of voice, video, and data. A wideband power amplifier in conjunction with MIMO is used to assign frequencies to the Maingate radio.

Satellite communications is being driven by ISR trends including the requirement to provide real-time transmission of high-definition video and COTM (communications-on-the-move). iGT highlighted continuing growth in terms of providing existing solutions to new customers as well as leveraging trends for IP-based communications on airborne platforms with a shift towards Ka-band, while TCS detailed the implementation of IRIS (Internet Routing In Space) as a means of reducing latency while increasing available bandwidth in satellite communications.

Open architectures and network centricity will drive the future system design with an emphasis on configurability in the digital domain. While the performance of CPUs continues to increase and GPUs are recognized for the extreme parallel processing capabilities, FPGAs from the likes of Xilinx and Altera, for example, will remain the best solution for high-speed I/O processing requirements of military communications systems.

In support of the IP-based net-centric battlefield environment, sub-system vendors are looking increasingly to partner and incorporate RF front-end capabilities into their product offerings. However, the  RF section will still need specialist expertise and technologies dictated in the case of communications by the move towards multi-mode, multi-band systems. NXP was attending Milcom 2011 with a full suite of solutions aimed at the defense market, that extend from the RF front end through to the digital interface and RFMD was also showcasing a variety of GaN-based products, such as high-power unmatched power transistors, broadband power ICs, and broadband power transistors as well as a broad portfolio of point-to-point radio products based around GaAs technology.

Moving forwards into 2012, the impact of budgetary pressures will lead to a change in contracts from “cost plus” to “fixed price” and prime contractors will also expect more “partnering” and investment on the part of the supply chain. While the uncertainties around specific programs will become more extreme, the broad technology trends will allow RF technology providers to invest across a range of programs and help to somewhat mitigate the risk.

Meet Strategy Analytics at EUROPEAN MICROWAVE WEEK 2011

We'll be there from Monday 10th - Wednesday 12th October

European Microwave Week is here again and this year Strategy Analytics has three days covered.

On Monday and Tuesday you have opportunities to meet with Asif Anwar* or Steve Entwistle** when the subject for discussion is entirely open for your choice ranging perhaps from questions of alternative strategies facing your company to the prospects for technologies and products emerging at this year's event. Arrange Meeting

On Wednesday you are invited to register for The 2011 Defence and Security Forum*** at which Asif Anwar will be presenting his paper "The Impact of Budget Constraints on Future Defense Technology Investment" during the 12:30 'Lunch & Learn" session.  Asif will ask you to consider his assertion that ... despite current global economics ...

"... the desire for technology differentiation will lead to continued opportunities in emerging electronic platforms supplemented by a focus on upgrading existing capabilities." 

We therefore invite you to click here to arrange meetings and/or register for The 2011 Defence and Security Forum.

*** Organised by Microwave Journal and the EuMA

* Asif Anwar is Director of Strategy Analytics' Advanced Defense Systems service

** Steve Entwistle is Vice President of Strategy Analytics' Strategic Technologies practice.

Steve Entwistle

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.

The defense industry is looking with as positive a frame of mind as it can as 2011 unfolds and this appeared to be supported by a strong start to the year as evidenced by both M&A and contract activity (see the ADS report, Defense Electronics Industry Review: January 2011).

Merger & Acquisition activity in the sector maintained momentum as cash rich larger firms look to secure market share, key technologies or market entry. There were no less than a dozen defense-oriented mergers, acquisitions and partnerships in the past six weeks.

As well as a plethora of M&A activity, total contract orders also maintained momentum and January again saw contracts comfortably in excess of a billion dollars with strong demand for radar technologies as evidenced by contract awards to Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Saab and Thales with airborne and naval platforms being the target markets. Electronic warfare activity was also strong with IED (improvised explosive device) jamming contracts going to ITT and Raytheon, while Cobham, Harris and Rockwell Collins featured amongst the recipients for communications-related contract awards.

There were also a number of notable announcements on the component front with UK-based Amplifier Technology introducing a number of GaN-based amplifer products targeting EW applications such as IED jamming. On the semiconductor front, Hittite launched a series of products while TriQuint announced a foundry agreement and separately, a contract with AFRL focused on GaN device development.

Looking ahead, DARPA has requested industry to find ways of combining DAC and high-power amplifier technology in a single device for electronic warfare, radar, and military communications systems. The emphasis appears to be focused on using the inherent integration capabilities offered by Si and SiGe technologies, but given the recent advances shown with BiHEMT process technologies, Strategy Analytics sees no reason why GaAs technologies could not be considered also.

Webinar: AESA Radar Applications and Market Trends

Register Here for this Webinar

Date: January 25, 2011
Time: 11:00 am EST
Presented by: Asif Anwar, Program Director, Strategy Analytics

Webinar Description:
AESA RADAR is fast becoming the must-have capability for next-generation defense platforms. Wide-ranging military applications of AESA RADAR are coming into service and this is creating a long tail of engineering demand and associated revenues. Strategy Analytics has been tracking these developments closely and this webinar will provide insights into basic principles, advantages, enabling technologies and future direction of AESA RADAR.
Strategy Analytics will provide examples and describe:

Fundamental principles of a RADAR system

Common designations and applications of RADAR systems

Performance/measurement features that quantify RADAR

Fundamentals & performance advantages for AESA RADAR

Technologies enabling current and future AESA RADARs

Trends that will enable future growth

Register Here for this Webinar

Asif Anwar
Program Director,
Strategic Technologies Practice,
Strategy Analytics

 

While the present climate for the defense industry has most of the major players and in turn their sub-contractors wary of making any strong predictions of how their business will fare into 2011, over two dozen contract awards worth in excess of a billion dollars were noted over November to December in the ADS report “Defense Electronics Industry Review: November-December 2010”.  Some examples included: 

• Northrop Grumman could expect to receive an approximately $920 m share of the entire $2.3 bn award for the purchase of up to 670 LITENING SE advanced targeting pods through 2017 as part of the Air Force's Advanced Targeting Pod – Sensor Enhancement (ATP-SE) program
• Other Navy news included another success for Lockheed Martin for $97 m award for the DDG AEGIS production contract
• Boeing gained an extension to its Small Diameter Bomb contract with a $106 m award;
• LONGBOW Limited Liability Company, the joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, received a $26.8 m contract from the US Army Aviation and Missile Command for LONGBOW Fire Control Radar (FCR) Life Cycle Contractor Support;
• The French arms procurement agency DGA awarded Astrium a €795 m contract for two satellites for the optical space component (CSO) that will replace the current HELIOS 2 military observation satellites.
• Raytheon received a contract totaling $240 m for the US Navy’s Arleigh Burke class of warships for AEGIS radar systems.

Merger & Acquisition activity in the sector remains steady and could increase thanks to cash rich larger firms looking to secure market share moving into 2011.  Investment in next-generation materials and device technologies continues as evidenced by TriQuint receiving a $17.5 M manufacturing development contract from the US Air Force. US and allied nations therefore look to be well set for access to the new technologies that can further boost force effectiveness.In addition, there have been new orders placed for parts in several key new programs. High profile once again has been the implementation of new-generation AESA radars for both airborne and shipboard platforms. Much of this has been confined to the US but Cassidian Electronics also reported further progress for its E-SCAN phased array radar technology with an award from the German Navy.

The growth of embedded computers in military systems represents a multi-billion dollar opportunity that is expected to continue to grow despite expected softening in the US and total military budgets. The growth is projected due to ongoing increases in the use of computationally intensive systems across a range of military applications.  By addressing the need to manage the ongoing evolution of technology hardware and software, companies in the military embedded computer space are tapping into a predictable and growing business opportunity by ensuring system reliability and performance over time. While obsolescence is an issue in any system with a significant life span, the attempt to use COTS devices with inherently shorter commercial lives in platforms with inherently longer military lives aggravates the problem. Further flexibility in both hardware and software is required to support developers who, while appreciating the economic advantages of COTS devices, push the performance frontiers with requirements that require significant modification of COTS systems making them “Kind-of-off-the-shelf” or KOTS systems.  Significant advances are expected at the multicore microprocessor level as well in other device categories. Advances in RTOS that are capable of supporting mixed environments will continue to evolve to take advantage of improvements in flexible software environments. This flexibility will support the development of systems that can rapidly integrate with existing capabilities and related systems. It will also support the evolution of these systems during upgrade cycles and will reduce the cost for managing obsolescence avoidance.   There are numerous applications which cover land, sea, and air needs where systems with greater intelligence or potential for value-added use of embedded computers will become increasingly important, with the autonomous unmanned vehicle a prime example.  Commercial market capabilities that are offering increased computing power at significantly lower power consumption will find ongoing opportunities in the military sector.  For further information on this topic, see the following reports;

• COTS: Military Embedded Computer Opportunities - $2B and Growing
• Cost Implications of COTS Obsolescence Management Trends
• Environmental Directives Underline Need for Long Term Acquisition Strategies in COTS Electronics Sourcing 

We presented, “Semiconductor Technology and Market Trends for Military Systems and Implications for Europe” at the inaugural Defence/Security Executive Forum at EuMW on September. Electronic systems provide key capabilities such as situational awareness, protection, communications and analysis and increasing complexity is being driven by the demand for voice, video and data inputs that are used to make timely decisions. This is resulting in increasing complexity of advanced defense systems such as radar, EW, comms etc used on the various defense platforms. A good example in this respect is the growing use of active electronically scanned (AESA) Radar that allow multiple beam generation at different frequencies being used for search, scan and tracking. Aside from radar, there are a number of generic trends including higher frequency, wider bandwidth, higher power, and integration that are driving the development and application of new technologies.   These system requirements impact RF semiconductor development and market opportunities, but need to balanced against the specific needs of the military. As an example, the increasing use of COTS has to be considered against requirements that typically transcend the capabilities of commercial parts including longer life cycles, environmental directives, concern over counterfeiting and military standards/testing. This is leading to the increasing use of KOTS ("Kind-of"-off- the- shelf), i.e. semi-custom components), that provide a balance between the need to leverage mainstream technology advances, and modular solutions with the unique requirements of the defense industry.  Silicon MOSFETs and TWTs form the stalwart technologies for the main RF/analog technologies used in military systems, but as trends gravitate towards higher frequencies, broadband performance and flexible operation, then the use of more advanced semiconductor technologies will become mainstream. SiC, GaAs and GaN in particular will see increasing use providing a mix of advanced performance coupled with mainstream manufacturing expertise, but there are also emerging opportunities for SiGe technologies.  Taking the communications segment as an example, Strategy Analytics sees a market growing from $4.8 billion in 2010 and approach $7 billion by 2020. Land-based tactical radios represent the largest market military communications. Common trends across the board include a move towards higher frequencies, e.g. land radios moving through to 2.7GHz, wide bandwidth requirements, multi-band requirements. Other desirable factors include either high power, smaller form factors or a mix of these attributes. A further breakdown of the analysis to individual functional components and process technologies shows, for example, the market for transceiver components growing from around an estimated $206 million in 2010 to $340 million.  The presentation is available as a complimentary report from the Strategy Analytics website, see Advanced Defense Systems. You can also see Microwave Journal’s write-up of the Strategy Analytics’ presentation as well the speakers at 2010 Defence/Security Executive Forum. There’s even a short video and all the presentations can be downloaded as well from the Microwave Journal write-up. ADS has released a series of individual forecasts in both report and spreadsheet format for the military communications sector; MilSatcom Electronic Market Trends through 2020 MilSatCom - Advanced Electronics Component Forecast Electronic Component Demand Scenarios for Land Based Military Tactical Radios Land Based Military Tactical Radio Electronic Component Demand Scenarios Airborne Communications Platforms - Advanced Electronics Component Forecast Naval Communications Platforms - Advanced Electronics Component Forecast The Future of Electronic Component Demand from Military Radio (Presentation) The Future of Electronic Component Demand from Military Radio (Video) Terrestrial Military Satcom Platforms - Advanced Electronics Component Forecast