SBIR-STTR Award

Active millimeter wave seekers are needed at a lower cost point in order to improve load-out for future air-ground missions. Our approach to developing a $15,000 RF seeker is to create a passive electronically-steerable antenna that is driven by COTS amplifiers and protected by COTS limiters and is built from low cost packaging techniques. Our PESA will use low-loss switch devices in a new way that minimizes RF loss while providing affordable mass production. A near-hermetic coating system will protect chip-and-wire electronics while providing electromagnetic shielding. Phase I will develop performance and cost predictions for our approach.

Benefits:
The proposed technology has application to a variety of weapons platforms at numerous frequency bands. Our Phase I technical approach is specifically tailored for inclusion in a either an X-band, Ku-band or Ka-band seeker for next-generation self-guided munitions such as an improved Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB-II) or Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM). Identifying additional product insertion points will be a topic of our Phase I and Phase II research. Beyond weapons platforms, there are several other military and commercial applications for the RF seeker technologies to be developed on this program. Radar sensors as well as radios are in need of affordable solutions to electronic beam-steering.

Keywords:
RF seeker, passive electronically steerable antenna (PESA), smart munition, millimeter wave, monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC), low cost, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS)

Active millimeter wave seekers are needed at a lower cost point in order to improve load-out for future air-to-ground missions. Nuvotronics’ Phase I studies have validated our approach to developing a $15,000 RF seeker based on a passive electronically-steerable antenna that is driven by COTS amplifiers, frequency synthesizers, FPGAs and other low-cost, high performance hardware, and is assembled using low cost near-hermetic packaging techniques on conventional circuit card assemblies. In Phase II, a commercial switch process will be leveraged to productize our novel phase shifter solution, to enable fast and reliable beam steering. A fully-populated array for a six-inch seeker will be demonstrated, including array controller and beam-steering computer functions. Our low-loss passive array will be designed for ease of integration with back-end seeker electronics, and rugged enough to operate in operational environments of temperature and humidity (TRL 5). In a follow-on effort our PESA could be integrated with an existing test asset to evaluate radar performance of our concept in captive-carry flight testing (TRL-6.)

Benefits:
Nuvotronics’ proposed miniature RF seeker technology can have widespread application in a variety of weapons platforms at numerous frequency bands. Our technical approach was carried forward in a Phase I trade study for inclusion in X-band, Ku-band or Ka-band seekers for next-generation self-guided munitions. This concept could be applied to future improvement programs associated with Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB-II) and Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM), or as an inexpensive adjunct sensor to laser-guided bombs such as Paveway. Identifying additional product insertion points will be a continuing topic of our Phase II research. Beyond weapons platforms, military and commercial applications requiring radar sensors or radios that are in need of affordable solutions to electronic beam-steering can benefit from hardware developed on this program.

Keywords:
RF seeker, passive electronically steerable antenna, PESA, low loss, phase shifter, solid-state, COTS parts, radar guided missile