Larry E. Corey Program Manager

Larry E. Corey Program Manager

Advanced RF Sensors

Cold War Today High-tech Countable Low-tech Innumerable

Proliferated Air Threats Problem: multiple inexpensive air threat assets overwhelm expensive (Patriot-like) defenses

Proliferated Air Threats Solution: multiple inexpensive seekers

Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) X Problem: Jamming

Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) X Solution: Rapid reconfiguration for new frequency

Shifting worldwide threat geography Problem: The volatile world requires transportable sensors

Shifting worldwide threat geography Solution: Inexpensive, transportable radar

Low Cost Cruise Missile Defense (LCCMD) Airborne Fire Control Radar Airborne Surveillance Radar Ground Launch Platform Low Cost Interceptor

MEMS Electronically Scanned Array (ESA) Seeker Phase Shifter Antenna Slat MEMS ESA Antenna Antenna 4Ka-band (35-GHz) Active Radar Seeker 4Electronically Scanned Array with 768 antenna elements

MEMS: Micro Electromechanical Systems 200µm ~150µm 4Complex, tiny mechanical structures can be fabricated using IC approach 4RF switches can be used for phase shifters, reconfigurable antennas Small, lightweight, low-loss, loss, linear

RF MEMS Improvement Program 4-bit Phase Shifters 80 mm 2 6 mm 2 4Goal: continue evolution, enhance reliability of RF MEMS while lowering loss, cost

Reconfigurable Aperture Program (RECAP)

RECAP Rivet Joint Airborne Surveillance 8 Spiral on RECAP s Varactor-Tuned AMC 120 90 10 0 60 150-10 30-20 180-30 0 8 Spiral with Conventional Groundplane 210 330 240 270 300 Jammer

Lightfoot: Transportable,Large, Low-Power-Density Radar Antennas + + Ground-Based Platform RF Components Leveraged Off Commercial Technology Base Large Lightweight Antenna Structures Leveraged off Space Technologies Airborne Platform 4Meet the radar PA and PA 2 requirements with low power and large apertures: 0Decreases the amount of equipment needed to support the radar 0Improves radar performance 0Requires the development of antenna technologies and new radar platforms

Beamforming Conventional Technology Lightfoot Challenge Rx / Ex FFT Feed Rx/Ex Rx/Ex Rx/Ex Rx/Ex Rx/Ex Rx/Ex Rx/Ex Rx/Ex Rx/Ex Rx/Ex Rx/Ex Rx/Ex 4Waveguides and wires feed every element 4Heavy 4Not stowable 4Space feed RF and control signals 4Optical beamforming 4Digital beamforming

T/R Chips Conventional Technology Lightfoot Challenge 435 W peak output 4Cost = $1,000 4Separate components 411 W peak output 4Cost = $10-$25 $25 4Single integrated T/R chip

Lightweight Antenna Structures Conventional Technology Lightfoot Challenge 4Ground-based: heavy, non-folding 4Space-based: good technology base for lightweight folding antennas 4Lightweight, foldable for repetitive stowing and deployment

Knowledge Aided Sensor Signal Processing Expert Reasoning Physical Databases Real-Time Database Exploit our knowledge of the real world to better analyze sensor data 1980 EM Modeling Tools 2000

Target Not Detected KASSPER Providing environmental details to the processor aids in target detection Target Complex environments impede the target detection of purely statistics-based processing http://www.darpa darpa.mil/baa/prda0107ifkpa..mil/baa/prda0107ifkpa.htm

Advanced RF Sensors