ULTRA-WIDE BAND MODULAR SOLID-STATE TRANSMITTER ARRAY FOR NAVAL ELECTRONIC WARFARE

A NOVEL APPROACH TO PROVIDING ULTRA-WIDEBAND ACTIVE MMIC ARRAYS IS PROPOSED, APPLICABLE TO NAVAL AIRBORNE, SHIPBOARD, AND EXPENDABLE EW SYSTEMS. IT WILL PROVIDE COMPLEMENTARY ARRAY AND BEAM FORMING CONCEPTS FOR THE 2 TO 20 GHZ EW ARRAY MODULES THAT WILL EVOLVE FROM THE DOD MIMIC PROGRAM IN THE EARLY 1990S. THREE BASIC CONCEPTS WILL BE EXPLORED: (A) NOVEL ULTRA-WIDEBAND ARRAY ELEMENTS; (B) ULTRAWIDEBAND ARRAYING BASED ON COMPACTING MULTIPLE CLOSELY SPACED ELEMENTS WITH PHASE AND AMPLITUDE CENTERS APPROPRIATE TO THE OPERATING FREQUENCY, AND (C) THE BEAMFORMING OF "N" ELEMENTS, TAKEN "M" AT A TIME, USING FREQUENCY INDEPENDENT COARSE AND FINE LENSES TO DEED THE COMPACTED ARRAY. PHASE I WOULD CONCLUDE WITH PROOF-OFPRINCIPLE ANALYSES AND FEASIBILITY MODELS ALONG WITH A FINAL REPORT RECOMMENDING A DESIGN FOR FABRICATION AND TEST DURING PHASE II.