European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. (EADS) subsidiary Cassidian has developed a new generation of transmit and receive radar modules the company says will give new Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars with electronic beam scanning improved performance.
Called Standard Module Transmit/Receive (SMTR) Mk II, the modules use reduced noise and more than tripled reliability to improve the AESA on the radar system level, according to Cassidian spokesman Lothar Belz. Thanks to the new modules, the multi-mode and multi-tasking capabilities of AESA antennas can be enhanced on a sustained basis while also significantly reducing production costs, according to a company statement.
“Our new generation modules increase radar performance while the cost of production is reduced by more than 30-percent,” Elmar Compans, head of Cassidian’s sensors and electronic warfare division, said in a statement.
Belz said increasing the level of high-density packaging and streamlining module design reduced radar production costs while optimizing sourcing cost for components. Belz said the company plans to produce these modules for at least the next 10 years.
Belz said Cassidian expects these radar modules to hit the market soon. Belz said usage for ground applications will start in 2013 and sea applications in 2014. Belz said usage for airborne applications started in 2011 with the first AESA radar demonstrator.
Cassidian said products using the new SMTR modules include the Eurofighter’s future e-scan radar, the security radars in the Spexer family as well as space-borne earth observation radars.