20 September 2011

Raytheon's Air and Missile Defense Radar modules pass 1000-hour RF Operating Life test

Raytheon Company of Waltham, MA, USA  says that its gallium nitride (GaN)-based transmit/receive (T/R) modules for the US Navy’s Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) program have passed a significant developmental testing milestone, exceeding Navy-specified requirements for extended, measured performance (demonstrating no degradation after more than 1000 hours of testing).

Currently working on Phase II of the AMDR program, Raytheon is developing a technology demonstrator for the system's S-band radar and radar suite controller. During testing, the modules demonstrated consistent power output across multiple channels. The more than 1000-hour Radio Frequency Operating Life test was a self-imposed early milestone for Raytheon.

“The threats that AMDR is designed to counter require leap-ahead technology that Raytheon is ready to deliver,” says Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems’ Kevin Peppe, VP of Seapower Capability Systems. “We are seeing our gallium nitride modules exceed the program’s performance requirements, which ensures that the Navy will get the capability and reliability they need for this sophisticated radar system at an affordable cost.”  

AMDR provides capabilities for the Navy beginning with the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. It fills a critical gap in the joint forces’ integrated air and missile defense capability, enabling effective missile defenses to be deployed in a flexible manner wherever needed, says Raytheon. The radar suite consists of an S-band radar, X-band radar and radar suite controller. The system is fully scalable, enabling the radar to be sized according to mission need and to be installed on ships of varying size, as necessary to meet the Navy’s current and future mission requirements. The radar’s digital beam-forming capability enables it to perform multiple simultaneous missions (a critical feature that makes the system affordable and operationally effective for the Navy).

Raytheon says that its expertise working with large-scale active phased-array radars spans the frequency spectrum from UHF to X/Ku-band and dates back to the Cobra Judy and Upgraded Early Warning Radar programs, continuing currently with the Dual Band Radar, AN/TPY-2 and Cobra Judy Replacement programs. The experience gained from these programs will ensure that the AMDR S- and X-band radars operate in coordination across a variety of operational environments, the firm says.
Raytheon says that it has a heritage of developing and producing air and missile defense radars, positioning it well for the AMDR competition. Also, it has so far produced more than 1.8 million AESA (active electronically scanned array) T/R modules and has decades of experience working with adaptive beam-forming technologies.

Work on the AMDR program is performed at Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems’ headquarters in Tewksbury, MA; at the Surveillance and Sensors Center in Sudbury, MA; at the Seapower Capability Center in Portsmouth, RI; and at the Integrated Air Defense Center in Andover, MA. Raytheon has partnered with General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems and naval architect Gibbs & Cox in the concept and technology development of the next-generation radar solution.

Tags: Raytheon Radar GaN

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