Broadband Counter-Electronics Weapon (BCEW) for Long-Range Non-Lethal Vehicle/Vessel Stopping Capabilities

RT&L FOCUS AREA(S): Autonomy;Directed Energy (DE);Microelectronics TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with section 3.5 of the Announcement. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws. OBJECTIVE: Develop a compact/lightweight low-cost broadband/wideband high-power microwave (HPM) source to support intermediate force capabilities, i.e., a long-range vehicle and/or vessel engine stopping system. Provide wideband (100 MHz to 2 GHz) HPM sources with pulse widths of 1 nanosecond (ns) to 200 nanoseconds; pulse repetition frequencies of a few pulses per second to 100 kHz; HPM waveform rise times of 0.25 ns to 100 ns; Electronic Field Strengths of 1kV/meter to 100 kV/meter; polarizations of horizontal or vertical; overall system size and weight of less than 100 lbs threshold (T), 50 lbs objective (O); and a low overall system cost of < $100K (T); $50K (O); effective ranges of 100's of meters (T) and a few kilometers (3-5km) (O). DESCRIPTION: This SBIR topic seeks to develop a more compact and lightweight long-range counter-electronic vehicle/vessel stopping system to support long range non-lethal vehicle/vessel stopping missions; and to mitigate codified joint non-lethal weapon capability gaps. There is Service transition interest in both the Maritime (U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard) and Ground (U.S. Army and USMC) domains as each Service currently desires long-range threat vehicle/vessel stopping capabilities with significant reduced overall system size, weight, power consumption, thermal cooling and lower system costs (SWAP/C2). Existing Radio Frequency (RF) Vehicle and Vessel Stopping systems have known range and overall system size and weight limitations; the current commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions only mitigate a very small portion of the codified JROC-approved long-range vehicle/vessel stopping capability-gap [Refs 1-4]. The intended system is to replace current RF Vehicle/Vessel Stopper technologies with sizes of ~ 160 cu ft and ~1000 pounds and costs of ~$1M with a prototype wideband-based HPM source/system that is ~ 3 cu ft; 50-100 pounds and costs only $50-100K; low overall system power consumption of < 25kW of prime power. System must operate commensurate with and compliant with MIL Standard 810H environmental performance/operating standards. See Objective section for specific performance specifications required under this SBIR topic. Specifically this SBIR topic is seeking wideband (100 MHz to 2 GHz) high power microwave sources with pulse widths of 1 nanosecond (ns) to 200 nanoseconds; pulse repetition frequencies of a few pulses per second to 100 kHz; HPM waveform rise times of 0.25 ns to 100 ns; Electronic Field Strengths of 1kV/meter to 100 kV/meter; polarizations of horizontal or vertical; overall system size and weight of less than 100 lbs (T), 50 lbs (O); and a low overall system cost of