MEMS ESA Used For Target Detection In Existing Radar System
The MEMS ESA results in savings of weight, prime power and cost. Much of the enhanced antenna performance is attributed to the employment of MEMS switches instead of traditional semiconductor-based switching technologies. The MEMS switch that populates this ESA is the product of technology developed at Radant MEMS (RMI), working with AFRL/SNH (Hanscom AFB) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
"The technology being developed by Radant stands poised to revolutionize the radar industry," Congressman Marty Meehan said. "I have long supported the core antenna program and Radant Technologies' contribution to this important work."
The RMI MEMS switches have a volume of 1.5 cubic millimeters and are produced by wafer capping of a micro-mechanical switch mechanism that travels less than 1 micrometer in 10 microseconds. The demonstration ESA contains 25,000 MEMS devices, electronically scans 120 degrees and operates over a 1-GHz bandwidth at X-band. The 0.4 square meter antenna was built to demonstrate feasibility of much larger antennas, exceeding 8 square meters, such as those needed by high-performance Airborne Moving Target Indicator (AMTI) and Surface Moving Target Indicator (SMTI) radars. Such systems require a large power-aperture product, but must be lightweight enough for aerostats and airships, as required by the U.S. Army Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor (JLENS) program.
An initial demonstration of the MEMS radar was performed at Lockheed Martin's facility in Syracuse, New York where the standard mechanically scanned antenna in one of the company's commercial AN/APG-67 airborne multimode radars was replaced by the larger Radant ESA. The ESA was interfaced to the existing transmitter, receiver and display and the MEMS radar beam scanned a 120-degree sector under control of the AN/APG-67. The beam steering interface electronics were provided by DRS Laurel Technologies of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a unit of DRS Technologies. AMTI detection was demonstrated with a small aircraft while SMTI detection was demonstrated with ground traffic. This is believed to be the world's first demonstration of a MEMS-based radar system, paving the way for this transformational technology for a wide variety of next generation radar systems.
SOURCE: Radant Technologies