Rockwell Collins engineers to develop new antenna technology for DARPA
NewsJuly 08, 2014
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa. Officials at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) tasked Rockwell Collins engineers to develop new electronically scanned array (ESA) antenna technology as part of DARPA's Arrays at Commercial Timescales (ACT) program.
The ACT program is focused on enabling shorter design cycles and creating a commercial market approach to developing antenna arrays. It aims to make ESAs more affordable by providing a common building block component that is digitally interconnected, reconfigurable, and easily upgradeable. DARPA wants to reduce the total cost of procurement by at least 80 percent.
“Through this program, we are leveraging our efforts in commercial and military applications to increase the performance of a wide range of applications, including data links, communications, precision timing/navigation, and electronic warfare,” says John Borghese, vice president of the Rockwell Collins Advanced Technology Center.
ESA antennas deliver various system level benefits such as reconfigurable antenna patterns, rapid beam movement, and graceful degradation of performance as the system ages. This program should make ESA solutions more affordable for smaller, low cost applications.
