Low-Cost Passive Panels

OUSD (R&E) CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Integrated Sensing and Cyber; Hypersonics; Microelectronics 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 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: Evaluate the application of commercial-based, low-cost, phased-array panels to support auxiliary and multi-static distributed arrays for Missile Defense Agency (MDA) X-band radars. DESCRIPTION: Commercial industry is investing ~$3B/year Non-Recurring Engineering (NRE) in Radio Frequency (RF)/digital technology for 5G, satellite internet, and communications applications. Starlink consumer terminal production has achieved a channel cost of ~$0.30 in contrast to the ~$8K channel cost of existing MDA radars which have much higher transmit power and wider instantaneous bandwidth requirements. (Channel cost is the recurring cost of a radiating element, associated RF hardware, and apportioned cost of the array infrastructure and backend electronics.) These low-cost, phased-array panel antennas are built from RF/digital multilayer circuit boards and utilize Silicon Germanium (SiGe) RF components to minimize cost which constrains transmit power so that they are not practical for constructing Missile Defense transmit & receive arrays. However, this technology is very attractive for constructing large Receive-Only arrays from multiple panels providing distributed digital beamforming on receive. The availability of affordable receive-only arrays to augment existing MDA radar systems would provide low cost options to enhance radar sensitivity and electronic protection capabilities. This effort would test the coherence, synchronization, dynamic range, and other channel capacities of a set of existing panel arrays to path find development of a large receive-only array. PHASE I: Develop reference model for X-band commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) panels based on available products Survey existing X-band COTS panels developed for radar, satellite communications (SATCOM), and other applications Develop array requirements Produce plan for constructing sparse-array testbed to demonstrate multiple-panel including timing and control infrastructure. PHASE II: Design array to be capable of independent orientation and positioning of each panel. Define coherence and synchronization techniques and metrics needed for constructing large arrays from panels Develop acquisition and construction plan to construct sparse array from Phase I. PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Acquire requisite commercial panels, enabling electrical/mechanical infrastructure, and supporting ancillary equipment such as signal sources. Construct array. Demonstrate array operation with external signal sources. Collect panel-level data to demonstrate relative stability over diurnal and thermal cycling, polarization, and adjustment of the panel orientation and positioning. Collect data over entire operating bandwidth. Provide technology roadmap to develop required panel technical characteristics including bandwidth for X-band Missile Defense application making maximum leverage of COTS technology and production base. REFERENCES: 1. "Dual-radar coherently combining: generalised paradigm and verification example", The Institution of Engineering and Technology, Xinghua Liu , Zhenhai Xu, Luoshengbin Wang, Wei Dong, Shunping Xiao 2. "Chinese scientists increase F-22 fighter jet's radar signature 60,000 times with new detection method: study, South China Early Post, April 2024, "https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/chinese-scientists-increase-f-22-fighter-jet-s-radar-signature-60000-times-with-new-detection-method-study/ar-AA1ndoU9 KEYWORDS: Radar; antenna receive arrays; multi-static