Cassidian has developed a new generation of transmit and receive modules which give the new Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars previously unattained performance, the company claims. Thanks to the new modules, the multi-mode and multi-tasking capabilities of AESA antennas can be enhanced on a sustained basis while at the same time significantly reducing production costs.
“Our new-generation modules increase radar performance, while the cost of production is reduced by more than 30 per cent,” said Dr. Elmar Compans, head of the Sensors & Electronic Warfare unit at Cassidian.
With environmental qualification to IEC 60748, Cassidian now has completed the basic development of a new generation of transmit and receive modules. This milestone will pave the way for using these high-tech components in particularly demanding applications in the aerospace sector. Operating Europe’s largest production line for this type of radar module, the company is the pioneer of this technology in Europe.
Cassidian has optimised the industrial production of these modules using a standard design based on a modular principle. The new technology offers many operational advantages and the potential to be used in many fields of reconnaissance and surveillance in the future. The company’s products using the new TRMs include the Eurofighter’s future e-scan radar, the security radars in the Spexer family as well as space borne earth observation radars.