Power amplifier to enhance electronic warfare capabilities
BAE and partners will develop a 160-watt solid-state, gallium nitride (GaN) power amplifier for communications, electronic warfare, and radar applications
BAE Systems received an $8 million contract from the Fort Monmouth, New Jersey-based U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command — the money came from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) — to build a 160-watt solid-state, gallium nitride (GaN) power amplifier for communications, electronic warfare, and radar applications. The solid-state technology will replace older vacuum tubes, called traveling wave tubes, currently used to produce high-power radio frequency signals. The new solid-state amplifiers will aid warfighters by more effectively disrupting enemy communications and radar signals at the same time that it is protecting friendly communications.
The award was made under DARPA’s Disruptive Manufacturing Technology program. DARPA uses the program to solicit proposals to reduce cost and time for production of military components, and BAE Systems was chosen from among forty bidders. Rohm and Haas of Blacksburg, Virginia, and University of Colorado are partnering with BAE Systems on the program.
