Military & Aerospace Electronics - October 2020

OCTOBER 2020

RELEVANT. TRUSTED.
ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES.

Securing smart ETENCAHBNLOINLGOGIES
weapons
FOR PERIMETER SECURITY
Raytheon to provide
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Electronics
thermal
management

Enabling technologies
for electronics
cooling expand, as
designers demand high
performance, standards-
based approaches,
and reduced size
and weight. PAGE 22

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Sensors, unmanned
vehicles, and human
intelligence to
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OCTOBER 2020
VOL. 31, NO. 10

DESIGNED FOR

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4 NEWS
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COvER STORY 14 SPECIAL REPORT
Enabling technologies
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33 ELECTRO-OPTICS WATCH

35 PRODUCT APPLICATIONS

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www.militaryaerospace.com MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  1

2010MAE_CraneAerospaceRev_RMel 1 9/21/20 12:40 PM

trends BY JOHN KELLER, EDITOR IN CHIEF

Contracts show the Pentagon is getting
serious about unmanned surface vessels

THE MIL & AERO COMMENTARY U.S. Martin Corp. in Bethesda, Md.; and for safe ocean transit.
military leaders are getting serious Gibbs & Cox Maritime Solutions in A key limitation of unmanned ships
about developing unmanned surface Arlington, Va.
vessels for jobs like the global trans- is their limited ranges because of the
port of military cargo, moving troops These surface drones, operating effects of large ocean waves on medi-
and support personnel, anti-subma- together with surface ships, under- um-sized vessels. At-sea refueling,
rine warfare, maritime surveillance, sea drones, aerial drones, and subma- heavy-lift ships, strategic airlift, and
and even offensive operations against rines, promise to change the character increased overall vessel size all are
enemy ships. of maritime warfare, Navy officials say. solutions to this limitation, but are vul-
nerable to enemy submarines, surface
U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) The DARPA Sea Train project, mean- warships, and combat aircraft.
agencies awarded two significant con- while, will develop enabling technolo-
tracts last month to develop enabling gies to make it easier for military forces The connected sea train has a phys-
technologies for unmanned surface to cross oceans by using a system of ical connection between four or more
vessels (USVs) able to operate inde- connected unmanned surface vessels vessels during transit to form a long
pendently for long periods over vast that would act as trains across the seas. parallel mid-body for the vessel to
ocean areas — even in rough seas and decrease the vulnerability to waves,
high waves. DARPA awarded a $13.9 Sea Train while enabling the vessels to be dis-
contract in September to Applied Phys- connected from time to time to con-
The two September contracts involve ical Sciences Corp. in Groton, Conn. duct tactical missions.
the U.S. Navy’s Large Unmanned Sur- The potential value of the contract
face Vehicle (LUSV), and the Sea Train is as much as $31.3 million. Applied The formation sea train involves
project of the U.S. Defense Advanced Physical Sciences experts will focus on four or more vessels moving together in
Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in enabling extended transoceanic tran- groups formed closely front and back,
Arlington, Va. sit and long-range naval operations and side to side, to exploit wave inter-
by capitalizing on the efficiencies of ference between the vessels.
The Navy has awarded contracts to a system of wave-resistant connected
six companies to take the first steps in vessels using a distributed fleet of tac- The Sea Train project seeks to design
determining what the service’s LUSV tical unmanned ships. a hull that makes the most of drag
will look like. The LUSV’s missions reduction; control surfaces for maneu-
would include anti-surface and strike The idea is to deploy lines of medi- vering and seakeeping; ways to connect
warfare.The LUSV will offer autonomy, um-sized unmanned ships that could to several medium-size unmanned
endurance, precision navigation, and help reduce the forces of waves. DARPA ships; and low-drag propulsion.
command-and-control. researchers say the sea trains could
be formed by physically connecting DARPA experts envision the Sea
the Navy has announced $42 million vessels loosely, or by sailing vessels in Train’s control architecture with real-
in LUSV preliminary studies. The con- formations. time networked computers able to
tractors are Austal USA in Mobile, Ala.; share information among vessels —
Huntington Ingalls Industries in New- Leaders of the U.S. Navy and Marine especially by linking weather forecasts
port News, Va.; Fincantieri Marinette Corps are trying to shift from central- with path planning and seakeeping;
Marine in Marinette, Wis.; Bollinger ized operations on a few large manned and ways to monitor vessel perfor-
Shipyards in Lockport, La.; Lockheed surface ships to a distributed fleet of mance. 
relatively small and low-risk vessels

2  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com



news

The next-generation U.S. intercontinental
ballistic missile will be named the Ground
Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD), and is to
replace the nation’s fleet of Minuteman III
ground-based missiles.

Northrop Grumman to design next-
generation nuclear ballistic missile

BY John Keller

HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah — U.S. Air Force Utah, adjacent to Hill Air Force Base. segment of Raytheon Technologies
strategic weapons experts are choos- The effort will take 8.5 years and Corp. in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; General
ing Northrop Grumman Corp. to design Dynamics Corp. in Reston, Va.; HDT
the next-generation U.S. intercontinen- include weapon system design, qualifi- Global Inc. in Solon, Ohio; Honeywell
tal ballistic missile (ICBM) to replace cation, test and evaluation, and nuclear International Inc. in Charlotte, N.C.;
the Minuteman III under terms of a certification, Northrop Grumman offi- Kratos Defense and Security Solutions
$13.3 billion contract announced in cials say. The Air Force wants the new Inc. in San Diego; L3Harris Technolo-
September. missile to be operational by 2029. The gies in Melbourne, Fla.; Lockheed Mar-
EMD award follows a three-year tech- tin Corp. in Bethesda, Md.; and Textron
Officials of the Air Force Nuclear nology maturation and risk reduc- Systems in Providence, R.I.
Weapons Center at Hill Air Force Base, tion phase-one effort under the GBSD
Utah, are asking Northrop Grumman competition. Also on the Northrop Grumman
to design the Ground Based Strategic GBSD team are hundreds of small- and
Deterrent (GBSD). Northrop Grumman The Northrop Grumman GBSD medium-sized companies from across
will provide engineering and manu- team includes Aerojet Rocketdyne in the defense, engineering, and construc-
facturing development (EMD) for the El Segundo, Calif.; Bechtel Corp. in Res- tion industries, Northrop Grumman
GBSD at a newly built facility in Roy, ton, Va.; Clark Construction Group in officials say.
Bethesda, Md.; the Collins Aerospace

4  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com



news

The GBSD ICBM is the follow-on to missiles and on manned jet bombers. D37D flight computer, but as of 2008
the aging LGM-30G Minuteman III ICBM Each Minuteman III missile is 60 feet had been upgraded as part of the Min-
and first became operational in 1970. uteman-III Guidance Replacement Pro-
The GBSD ICBM will have increased tall, 5.5 feet in diameter, and powered gram (GRP).
accuracy, enhanced security, and by three solid rocket motors that can
improved reliability. launch the 80,000-pound missile to alti- On the GBSD contract Northrop
tudes of 700 miles to deliver nuclear Grumman will do the work in Roy
The GBSD will have a 300-kiloton warheads as far away as 6,500 miles. and Promentory, Utah; Huntsville and
W87 Mod 0 thermonuclear warhead Each missile contains as many as three Montgomery, Ala.; Colorado Springs,
of unknown yield, capable of air- or independently targeted warheads in Colo.; Bellevue, Neb.; San Diego and
ground-burst detonation. The silo- separate reentry vehicles. Woodland Hills, Calif.; Chandler, Ariz.;
launched missile will have three-stage Annapolis Junction, Md.; and at other
solid-fuel rocket propulsion with iner- The U.S. maintains Minuteman III U.S. locations. 
tial and GPUS guidance. missiles at 450 missile sites in Colorado,
Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and For more information contact Northrop Grum-
The GBSD will replace the U.S. Min- Wyoming.The missiles themselves are man online at www.northropgrumman.com/
uteman III fleet, which constitutes one- in underground silos and are ready for gbsd, or the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center
third of the nation’s nuclear weapons launch on very short notice. at www.afnwc.af.mil.
deterrent. Other U.S nuclear warheads
are on submarine-launched ballistic The Minuteman III originally was
equipped with a Rockwell Autonetics

HRL Laboratories to refine millimeter-wave
GaN integrated circuits for RF applications

BY John Keller

ARLINGTON, Va. — U.S. military researchers italize on standard evaluation circuits experts began maturing their RF and
are asking integrated circuit experts at (SEC), process control monitors (PCM), millimeter-wave gallium nitride (GaN)
HRL Laboratories LLC in Malibu, Calif., and short-loop fabrication to identify semiconductor technologies that they
to refine RF and microwave circuitry for process step improvements. demonstrated during the DARPA Nitride
aerospace and defense applications. Electronics NeXt-Generation Technol-
In the project’s first phase, HRL ogy (NEXT) program a decade ago.
Officials of the U.S. Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in HRL Laboratories will improve RF and micro- The goal of the project’s second
Arlington,Va., have announced an $8.4 wave semiconductor technologies to phase is to reduce the fabrication cycle
million contract modification to HRL for improve device yield, reduce process cycle time, improve the RF yield and reli-
phase-two of the Millimeter Wave GaN time, and demonstrate key millimeter wave ability, improve device models and the
Maturation (MGM) program. power amplifiers and mixed-signal circuits process design kit, and increase the
in multi-project wafer runs (MPWs). manufacturing readiness level (MRL)
This initiative seeks to improve RF of GaN millimeter-wave circuitry.
and microwave semiconductor tech-
nologies to improve device yield, reduce HRL experts will mature this GaN
process cycle time, and demonstrate technology by making targeted pro-
key millimeter wave power amplifiers cess step improvements.They will use
and mixed-signal circuits in multi-proj- process control monitors; make sev-
ect wafer runs (MPWs). eral multi-project wafer (MPW) runs;
and improve monolithic microwave
MGM is making strategic yield and integrated circuit (MMIC) design capa-
reproducibility improvements that cap-

6  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com

bilities at the company’s their Malibu, up to about 1,000 transistors. This contract modification brings the total value
Calif., facility. During the MGM project’s first phase, of the MGM contract to HRL to $18.8 million.
HRL experts will do the work in Malibu, Calif.,
As a performer on the DARPA NEXT HRL updated design kits to support sev- and should be finished by September 2022.
program HRL developed state-of-the- eral computer-aided design (CAD) tools, For more information contact HRL Laborato-
art GaN transistors with scaled gate supported multi-project waver runs, ries online at www.hrl.com, or DARPA at www.
lengths of 40 nanometers and demon- and reduced overall fabrication cycle darpa.mil.
strated ft/fmax of 200/400 GHz. time to support U.S. military users. 

The NEXT program sought to The Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW), shown above, will have a new secure radio data link
develop a revolutionary nitride tran- from trusted computing experts at Raytheon Missiles & Defense.
sistor technology with an extremely
high-speed and high-voltage swing of
Johnson Figure of Merit (JFoM) larger
than 5 THz in large-scale circuit inte-
grations of at least 1,000 transistors.

The project sought to develop fabri-
cation processes that are manufactur-
able, high-yield, high-uniformity, and
highly reliable.The program focused on
demonstrating the ability to combine
these devices into a small logic circuit
of about 10 transistors, and then work

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MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS  O C T O B E R4/152/200 2100:5 3 A M7

news

Raytheon to provide data link cryptography
modernization for smart munitions

BY John Keller

PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. — U.S. Navy airborne Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW). guided weapons into network-enabled
weapons experts needed modernized Raytheon will provide non-recurring weapons. The weapon data radio pro-
cryptography for a tactical data link vides weapon tracking, fire control, and
radio designed to keep smart muni- engineering for integrating the modi- situational awareness.
tions on target. They found their solu- fied Cryptographic Modernization Tac-
tion from the Raytheon Technologies tical Air Command Network 1.0 data The Collins Aerospace TacNet uses
Corp. Missiles & Defense segment in link radio onto the AGM-154C-1 missile. industry-standard interfaces to reduce
Tucson, Ariz. integration and life cycle costs, as well
The AGM-154 JSOW is a medium as advanced NSA Type 1 programma-
Officials of the Naval Air Systems range precision guided glide bomb to ble crypto to adapt to future threats. 
Command at Patuxent River Naval Air attack defended targets from outside
Station, Md., announced a $10.2 million the range of standard anti-aircraft On this order Raytheon will do the work in Tuc-
order to Raytheon for the cryptographic defenses. son, Ariz., and should be finished by August
modernization of the Tactical Air Com- 2022. For more information contact Raytheon
mand Network 1.0 and 1.1 weapon data The Collins Aerospace segment of Missiles & Defense online at www.rtx.com.
link radio for the Navy AGM-154C-1 Raytheon Technologies in Cedar Rap-
ids, Iowa, designs and manufacturers
the TacNet weapon data link to make

Air Force eyes improved ware-agnostic and have unlimited satellite is to be completed by May
electronic intelligence processing data rights. The Air Force needs tech- 2025. The ESS program continues
enabling technologies nologies that demonstrate auto- the strategic satellite communica-
mated, real-time signal detection, tions (SATCOM) mission of the AEHF
The U.S. Air Force is looking for new processing, exploitation, and report- constellation — providing surviv-
ways to process electronic intelli- ing capabilities. able, global, secure, protected, and
gence signals used to detect threats jam-resistant communications for
in support of its reconnaissance plat- Northrop Grumman to develop high-priority military operations and
forms, according to a broad agency secure, jam-resistant ESS national command authorities. ESS
announcement (BAA) published last military SATCOM spacecraft satellites will interoperate with, and
month. This research will help the eventually replace, AEHF’s mid-lat-
Air Force find ways to keep up with Northrop Grumman Corp. received a itude system capability, extending
increased complexity and volume $298 million contract to develop an communications capability to the
of the electronic intelligence bat- anti-jam military satellite to sup- North Polar region.
tlespace and improve intelligence plement and eventually replace the
gathering. The BAA asks for high- existing Advanced Extremely High Six companies to start
risk research related to threat detec- Frequency (AEHF) satellites made preliminary designs for Large
tion and prosecution at the Air Force by Lockheed Martin. The Space and Unmanned Surface Vehicle
Research Lab’s Information Direc- Missile Systems Center announced
torate in Rome, N.Y. The Air Force is the contract award Sept. 16 for the The U.S. Navy has awarded con-
looking for new methods for signal Evolved Strategic Satellite Com- tracts to six companies to take the
processing. Researchers are look- munications program, known as first steps in determining what the
ing for technology that are hard- Evolved Strategic SATCOM (ESS). The
Continued on page 12

8  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com

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news

Leidos is developing adaptive radar counter-
measures for the L3Harris AN/ALQ-214A EW
system aboard Navy F/A-18 carrier-based
jet fighter-bombers.

Leidos to develop EW adaptive radar
countermeasures software for Navy combat jets

BY John Keller

PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. — Electronic warfare radar-guided surface-to-air missiles. on the ARC project. Leidos originally
(EW) experts at Leidos Inc. are develop- Adaptive radar is being designed to worked with Exelis Inc., which now is
ing ways to spoof adaptive radar, which counter the effects of EW countermea- part of L3Harris.
uses digital technology to change its sures and other RF interference.
characteristics dynamically to adapt In addition to Leidos, other DARPA
to changes in its environment. Leidos experts have been developing ARC contractors include Vadum Inc. in
adaptive radar countermeasures tech- Raleigh, N.C.; Helios Remote Sensing
Officials of the Naval Air Systems nologies for at least the last eight years. Systems Inc. in Rome, N.Y.; Michigan
Command at Patuxent River Naval Air The company was among several U.S. Tech Research Institute (MTRI) in Ann
Station, Md., announced a $58.9 million defense companies to win contracts Arbor, Mich.; BAE Systems Electronic
order to Leidos in Reston,Va., to develop in March 2013 for the Adaptive Radar Systems in Merrimack, N.H.; and Sys-
adaptive radar countermeasures hard- Countermeasures (ARC) program of the tems and Technology Research (STR)
ware and software for the L3Harris AN/ U.S. Defense Advanced Research Proj- in Woburn, Mass.
ALQ-214A EW system aboard Navy F/A- ects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va.
18 carrier-based jet fighter-bombers. L3Harris has demonstrated Leidos
In January 2016, Leidos won a $12.9 software algorithms with an L3Harris
The Navy wants adaptive radar million follow-on contract for the EW hardware-in-the-loop test envi-
countermeasures capability for the DARPA ARC program. Leidos has been ronment as an enhanced capability to
AN/ALQ-214A to help F/A-18s survive working with L3Harris Space & Air- electronically defend against emerging
in the presence of sophisticated enemy borne Systems segment in Clifton, N.J., radar threats.

10  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com

The goal of the DARPA ARC program It was among DARPA’s original On this order Leidos will do the work in Arlington,
has been to develop ways to counter goals for the ARC program to develop Va.; Clifton, N.J.; Goleta, Calif.; St. Louis; Raleigh,
adaptive radar threats quickly based on software algorithms for existing or N.C.; and Huntsville, Ala., and should be finished by
over-the-air observable signals. planned EW systems, such as the February 2024. For more information contact Leidos
AN/ALQ-214A on the F/A-18. DARPA online at www.leidos.com, L3Harris Space & Air-
Today’s airborne EW systems are kicked-off the ARC program in mid- borne Systems at www.l3harris.com/business-seg-
proficient at identifying analog radar 2012.  ments, or DARPA at www.darpa.mil/program/
systems that operate on fixed fre- adaptive-radar-countermeasures.
quencies, experts say. Once they
identify a hostile radar system, EW
aircraft can apply a preprogrammed
countermeasure technique. Yet the
job of identifying modern digitally
programmable radar variants using
agile waveforms is becoming more
difficult. Leidos and the other ARC
contractors worked to enable sys-
tems to generate effective counter-
measures automatically against new,
unknown, or ambiguous radar signals
in near real-time.

Key challenges to countering adap-
tive radar are how to isolate signals
clearly amid hostile, friendly, and neu-
tral signals; figuring out the threat the
signal poses; and jamming the signal.
Modern enemy radar systems, how-
ever, are becoming digitally program-
mable with unknown behaviors and
agile waveform, so identifying and
jamming them is becoming increas-
ingly difficult.

Leidos has developed processing
techniques and algorithms to counter
adaptive radar threats through real-
time analysis of the threat’s over-
the-air observable properties and
behaviors.

The ARC program developed
a closed-loop system with sig-
nal analysis and characteriza-
tion, countermeasure synthesis,
and countermeasure effectiveness
assessment. The system not only can
learn automatically to counter new
radar threats, but also will enable
human operators to command and
receive feedback from the system.

news

Applied Physical Sciences to enable
wave-resistant unmanned ships

BY John Keller

ARLINGTON, Va. — U.S. military research- Applied Physical Sciences will develop connecting vessels loosely, or by sail-
ers needed enabling technologies to enabling technologies for the DARPA Sea Train, ing vessels in formations.
make it easier for military forces to an unmanned convoy of unmanned surface
cross oceans by using a system of ships that can withstand waves and high seas. Sea Train has two technical areas: an
connected unmanned surface vessels integrated design of unmanned vessels;
(USVs) that would act as trains across talizing on the efficiencies of a system and a control and monitoring architec-
the seas. They found their solution of wave-resistant connected vessels ture to make the most of efficiencies.
from Applied Physical Sciences Corp. using a distributed fleet of tactical
in Groton, Conn. unmanned ships. Leaders of the U.S. Navy and Marine
Corps are trying to shift from central-
Officials of the U.S. Defense The idea is to deploy lines of medi- ized operations on a few large manned
Advanced Research Projects Agency um-sized unmanned ships that could surface ships to a distributed fleet of
(DARPA) in Arlington, Va., have help reduce the forces of waves. Sea relatively small and low-risk vessels
announced a $13.9 contract to Applied trains could be formed by physically for safe ocean transit.
Physical Sciences for the Sea Train proj-
ect.The potential value of the contract A key element of this operational shift
is as much as $31.3 million. is the growing application of unmanned
surface ships for surveillance, logistics,
This program seeks to enable electronic warfare (EW), expeditionary
extended transoceanic transit and warfare, and offensive operations.
long-range naval operations by capi-
A key limitation of unmanned ships
is their limited ranges because of the

Continued from page 8 by August 2021, but options could Corp. C4ISRnet reports. The newly
service’s Large Unmanned Surface extend the work to May 2022. The acquired business, which provides
Vehicle (LUSV) will look like. After contracts’ total value with options is electro-optical systems for the
adjusting its acquisition approach $59.5 million. The LUSV studies will U.S. Defense Department, will be
to adhere to congressional code, the refine requirements, explore alter- renamed Danbury Mission Technol-
Navy today announced $42 million native design approaches, find ways ogies. The acquisition was one of
in contracts for LUSV studies, with to improve reliability, and plan for the major divestitures required by
Austal USA in Mobile, Ala.; Hun- electronics, electrical and mechan- the U.S. Department of Justice when
tington Ingalls Industries in New- ical systems. it approved the merger of defense
port News, Va.; Fincantieri Marinette contracting giants United Technol-
Marine in Marinette, Wis.; Bollinger AMERGINT eyes acquisition of ogies Corp. and Raytheon in March.
Shipyards in Lockport, La.; Lockheed space-based optics business Along with the space-based optics
Martin Corp. in Bethesda, Md.; and from Raytheon Technologies business, the government mandated
Gibbs & Cox Maritime Solutions in Raytheon Technologies sell its mil-
Arlington, Va. Each contractor won AMERGINT Technologies, Inc. in itary airborne radios business and
about $7 million to kick off work on Colorado Springs, Colo., has com- UTC’s military GPS business. The
the program. The Navy anticipates pleted the purchase of the Collins terms of the AMERGINT deal were
the companies finishing the work Aerospace space-based optics busi- not disclosed.
ness from Raytheon Technologies

12  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com

effects of large ocean waves on medi- require human intervention during orientation identify structural loads;
um-sized vessels. At-sea refueling, connecting and disconnecting; nuclear handle vessel autonomy; and decision
heavy-lift ships, strategic airlift, and power and propulsion; and systems algorithms for propulsion and fuel con-
increased overall vessel size all are that experiment using live animals. sumption. 
solutions to this limitation, but are vul-
nerable to enemy submarines, surface Sea Train sensors should include For more information contact Applied Physical
warships, and combat aircraft. techniques that perceive sea condi- Sciences, a General Dynamics company, online at
tions for path planning and route opti- www.aphysci.com, or DARPA at www.darpa.mil.
The first technical area of the Sea mization identify vessel spacing and
Train project involves developing an
integrated design composed of a hull VITA 48.4
form, hull connector, propulsion, and
gap mitigation between the vessels. Liquid Flow-Through Cooling
The second technical area involves
developing a control architecture to Power-hungry OpenVPX modules require a cooling solution that keeps the
monitor environmental conditions; mission on course. From the experts in packaging for extreme environments
handle multi-vessel alignment, spac- comes the VITA 48.4 LFT Rugged ATR Platform, with 300W/slot cooling.
ing, and structural loads.
• Six OpenVPX payload & switch slots
The project has three potential • Four slots with RF & optical connections
approaches: a connected sea train; a • 10Gbps backplane data rates
connectorless sea train; and a forma- • Two VITA 62 power modules
tion sea train.
With you at every stage! elma.com
The connected sea train has a phys-
ical connection between four or more Elma Electronic Inc.
vessels during transit to form a long
parallel mid-body for the vessel to
decrease the vulnerability to waves,
while enabling the vessels to discon-
nected from time to time to conduct
tactical missions.

The connectorless sea train uses
compressive forces to keep four or
more vessels together in a long parallel
mid-body for the vessel to decrease the
vulnerability to waves, while enabling
the vessels to disconnect to conduct
tactical missions.

The formation sea train involves
four or more vessels moving together in
groups formed closely front and back,
and side to side, to exploit wave inter-
ference between the vessels.

DARPA researchers discourage the
use of drag-reduction technologies,
such as polymer injection; energy
creation, harvesting, or storage tech-
nologies; systems that require fuels
other than marine diesel systems that

www.militaryaerospace.com MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  13

SPECIAL REPORT

The Blighter C400 series is a modular, solid-state non-rotating e-scan advanced micro
Doppler radar to detect small, slow-moving, and uncooperative targets often undetect-
able by traditional coastal surveillance systems and maritime radars.

Enabling technologies

for port and harbor security

Blending electro-optical sensors, radar, sonar, unmanned vehicles, and good old-
fashioned human patrolling represent the latest approaches to keeping the
nation’s waterways safe from terrorism, spying, and sabotage.

BY J.R. Wilson

The United States has always depended U.S.Virgin Islands in the East to Alaska America has 25,000 miles of navi-
on water transport to import, export, and Guam in the West, the movement gable rivers, 159 ports responsible for
and distribute goods. As the nation of goods by ocean and rivers became moving more than 99 percent of annual
expanded from 13 East Coast colonies even more important — and remains U.S. import/export goods and 1,500 har-
to a nation ranging from Maine and the so to this day. bors (all ports are harbors, but only a
fraction of harbors are ports). These
Editor’s note: J.R. Wilson, our Western bureau chief, has been hospitalized cover a distance of roughly 9,500 miles
for an emergency medical condition, and is not physically able to write this East to West and 3,000 miles North to
months’s special report feature on border and perimeter security. Instead, South — or 28,500,000 square miles.
we are reprinting J.R. Wilson’s 2019 feature on enabling technologies for port,
harbor, and river security. We wish J.R. Wilson a speedy recovery. Given the size of the area that
encompasses the nation’s ocean
waters, rivers, lakes, ports, and har-
bors — and their importance to the U.S.

14  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com

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largest naval air force in the world.
Although it is one of the nation’s seven
uniformed services, it is part of the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security, not
the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).
Portions of the Coast Guard, however,
can be assigned temporarily to DOD,
under the U.S. Navy, in wartime or for
special assignments, such as anti-pi-
racy patrols around Africa.

“The Coast Guard has a mandate for
providing maritime security and has
a research and development center
in Groton, Conn.,” points out Lt. Cmdr.
Blair Sweiggart, chief of the Coast
Guard’s enforcement division in the
Puget Sound, Wash., sector.

The Blighter C400 series coastal security radar has a built-in sea clutter filter to adapt auto- Coast Guard concerns
matically to changing sea states and wave conditions to remove the unwanted radar signals
produced by waves using both velocity (speed) and amplitude (height) characteristics. Among the Coast Guard’s chief national
security concerns is identifying and
economy — maintaining their security and the Caribbean also border Canada tracking small boats and so-called
and continued operations is one of the and Mexico, this effort requires inter- “dark” vessels — those that operate
largest tasks facing America’s national national cooperation and coordination. without radar transponders, or that
security network —especially in an era disable transponders by reporting false
of increasing terrorist attacks. Leading the U.S. security system for identities or locations. “For the last two
navigable waterways, ports, and har- years, we have been working with our
Because many of these waterways, bors is the U.S. Coast Guard, which is counterparts throughout DHS, as well
such as the Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, the 12th largest naval force and 7th as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police,
looking at radar contact on small and
The Blighter C400 series radar can detect a small wooden boat, panga, or dory with a dark vessel detection, Sweiggart says.
radar cross-section of one square meter at ranges as far as 6.8 miles, day and night, in
heavy rain, dense fog, or even rough seas. “We’ve been most focused at Puget
Sound on a shared radar feed provid-
ing maritime situational awareness. It
allows us to identify and track small and
non-admitting vessels. In this region,
we routinely see more than 30,000 ves-
sels crossing a year between the U.S.
and Canada, the vast majority of which
are legal and completely authorized.
But a lot of illicit activity in this region is
designed to blend into legitimate activ-
ity, so we need better ways to identify
activity that may be illegal.”

Rapidly evolving technology has
become a critical force multiplier;
unmanned aircraft, surface vessels,

16  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com

SPECIAL REPORT

and submarines and short-range sur- tronic-scanning (e-scan) ground radar Mark Radford, co-founder and CTO at
face-search radars can provide 24/7 systems for counter-drone, perimeter Blighter Surveillance Systems
on-site physical data to high-speed pro- security, wide-area surveillance and
cessors incorporating machine learning coastline security applications.
that alert human security personnel to
confirmed or potential problems. Blighter Chief Technology Offi-
cer Mark Radford says his company’s
Such systems are just being radars look for small, slow-moving tar-
deployed or still in testing, but their gets, while traditional coastal radars
influence already is being seen. “What typically scan for larger boats and ships
we’ve already seen, on our radar sys- further from shore.
tem, is enhancing our maritime sit-
uational awareness allows us to be “[Blighter uses] Doppler radars, so
smarter about where we deploy our they detect the movement of objects;
manned resources, which serves as a they also are frequency-modulated,
force multiplier,” Sweiggart says. “From continuous wave, which allows us to
a security standpoint, we can retain detect targets at very short ranges, as
the required level of awareness while close as 10 meters,” Radford explains.
keeping our manned assets in garrison “Traditional radars are blind for up to
or using them for other missions. Any 500 meters, some up to seven kilome-
waterway is exploitable. We certainly ters. Our short range means we can
see that along the maritime border detect a small boat that may have a
here, where we have about 135 miles radar cross-section as small as one
of border, over much of which no one
agency has the manpower to have con-
stant access.”

Technology is the key enabler to
maintain situational awareness. “That
is true throughout the ports and har-
bors in this region, which comes down
to really good partnerships,” Sweiggart
continues. “Those waterways also are
where some softer targets are, such as
the Washington State Ferry System,
which is the largest ferry system in the
world.Working with our partners, using
risk-based modeling and coordinated
schedules and facilities, allows us to
more efficiently counter those threats.”

International concern MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  17

Waterway security is an international
concern, with some of the leading
security system and equipment pro-
viders located in Europe, the Middle
East, and Asia. One such is Blighter
Surveillance Systems in Great Ches-
terford, England, which produces elec-

www.militaryaerospace.com

SPECIAL REPORT

Sailors assigned to Coastal Riverine Squadron 3 Mark VI patrol boats are underway during eras at night. Blighter‘s system, origi-
high value asset security exercise as part of unit level training conducted by the Coastal nally was designed as a ground radar,
Riverine Group 1 training evaluation unit. then modified for use over water, also
can detect low-flying UAVs, especially
square meter. We can detect it close area, a blind spot close to the radars. in a cluttered environment.
to the shore and when the occupants We solved that by using a shadow boost
get out and start walking on the beach, technology, which boosts the short- “It is key to integrate with sonar sys-
we can continue to follow them. range capability to detect targets within tems to cover underwater activities,”
that shadow area.” Radford points out. “For instance, in
Other technologies help give the South Korea, we have more than 100 of
Blighter radar a tight focus on close-in Ku band radars provide an all- our units along the DMZ, most on land,
vessels. “As with all radars, they need weather, day/night capability and typ- but also along islands just offshore that
to be placed on towers or high hills, ically pair with long-range daylight the DMZ extends to. With that, we have
Radford says. “That creates a ‘shadow’ cameras and thermal imaging cam- been able to detect swimmers coming
from North Korea.”

Blending information from several
different sensors key be key in har-
bor and waterway security. “Today’s
primary port, harbor and river secu-
rity technologies are radars, cameras,
thermal imagers and sonar, a combi-
nation of electromagnetic and acoustic
spectrums,” Radford explains. “With a
port or perimeter area, you also would
have a [physical] wall or fence line. All
of the sensor systems ultimately link
into a command and control center
that allows you to set up alert zones
on the mapping system.”

Enhancements to all of those,
along with the deployment of new
or advanced technologies still under
development, will improve coastal and
river security significantly in the next
five years, he adds.

The Blighter AUDS system combines electronic-scanning radar target detection, elec- Blending sensors
tro-optical (EO) tracking/classification, and directional RF inhibition capability.
“The key driver we’re seeing is the
move from individual single-function
sensors, such as coastal protection or
ground radars, and combining them
into one radar system. We can now
do mixed sea and ground sensing, as
well as low-flying UAVs, which have
changed the challenge from 2D to 3D,”
Radford says.

“UAVs often are used to do surveil-
lance prior to making a major move.

18  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com

SPECIAL REPORT

The radar systems are being used to penetrate maritime and land defenses reach the fence;
detect those, but are very costly and out — or distractions supporting other ille- • observation of intruders detected
of the reach of most potential users. But gal activities on or under water, in the
it is a trend I think we will see become air or on land. by other means;
more prevalent in years to come.” • identification and tracking of intrud-
“So your radar and sensor system
Of the three waterway domains, needs to do more than one thing, not ers and direction of security forces;
many consider harbors — generally just tracking a drone in the air, but • scanning of waters within the port/
larger targets than developed ports continuing to monitor water and land
— to be the most vulnerable to ter- activities” Blighter’s Radford warns. harbor boundaries for unauthorized
rorist attacks. As natural formations, “Short to medium range [radar] sur- activities;
often used for centuries, they are more veillance capabilities — looking out for • surveillance of all ships and boats
defined by the land enclosing them, low-flying drones, monitoring air, land within the protected area; and
making them more difficult to protect in and sea simultaneously — really need • surveillance of all land fences within
a cost-effective manner. Natural curves to be integrated with other system sen- the protected area
in their environment create shadows sors to provide a complete situational
and large areas that are unprotected awareness in all three domains.” Arctic protection
because local authorities cannot afford
the additional radars that would be Other sensors include day/night, all- A growing area of concern for the U.S.
required. Smaller, less expensive short- weather EO/IR (electro-optical/infra- is the vast Arctic, where the U.S. Terri-
range radars can create a day/night, red) devices that automatically and torial Waters and Exclusive Economic
all-weather defense to enhance harbor continuously scan surrounding mari- Zone covers 1 million square miles.The
protection significantly, especially when time and land zones for unauthorized value of this region includes:
combined with other mechanisms, such activities.Their use in port and harbor • a $3 billion economic impact on
as UUVs and electronic fences. security includes:
• creation of an over-water virtual Alaska’s Arctic seafood industry;
U.S. and allied installations over- • 90 billion barrels of undiscovered oil
seas have been the targets of thou- fence to detect small boats and
sands of aggressive UAV operations swimmers before they reach the reserves and an estimated 30 per-
in recent years. Officials say such inci- port/harbor boundary; cent of the world’s undiscovered
dents may be stand-alone efforts to • creation of an overland virtual fence natural gas; and
to detect land intruders before they • $1 trillion in rare earth minerals,
which otherwise are located largely
in countries with which the U.S. has
tenuous relationships, such as China.

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MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  19

9/2/20 11:30 AM

SPECIAL REPORT

den, Iceland, and Finland. Becoming a U.S. territory would
enable the development of additional security facilities
and the placement of advanced technologies on the East-
ern side of the Arctic.

Each of the Arctic Nations has been working hard to
increase surveillance capabilities — especially underwater/
under-ice — to defend and enhance their position in the
region. For example, Canada, recognizing the importance of
cross-domain situational awareness, has created the Cana-
dian Arctic Underwater Sentinel Experimentation (CAUSE)
project to investigate new technologies for wide area under-
water and under-ice surveillance in the Canadian Arctic.

Norway and the U.S. recently signed a bilateral mari-
time arrangement calling for advanced maritime threat-re-
sponse collaboration between the two countries to address
a wide-ranging list of Arctic challenges.

The CONTOP TORNADO-ER provides a panoramic infrared image, New tactics
automatic detection of moving maritime targets, and multi-target
tracking capability, covering dense maritime areas and detecting The threat to border security for the U.S. and Canada has
swimmers at short ranges and vessels out to 12 kilometers. led to new tactics and procedures designed to strengthen
cooperation and lessen the restrictions on armed U.S. mar-
There have been significant changes in the region itime operations on the Great Lakes established after the
since release of the 2013 Arctic Strategy, increasing secu- War of 1812. Under those restrictions, U.S. Coast Guards-
rity demands on U.S. capabilities already stretched thin men boarding vessels along the water-line border had to
and, in many cases, underdeveloped for the Arctic’s harsh disarm if the vessel drifted into Canadian waters. And
environment. U.S. vessels were restricted to one small (even by 1812
standards) cannon.
Although it has no border on the region, China has
declared itself a “near-Arctic state” and the region, into The Coast Guard considers one of the biggest successes
which it is making more and more expeditions, a strategic for international border security to be the Ship Rider pro-
priority.That includes being the origin or destination for 40 gram, a joint effort between the U.S. and Canada that sends
percent of the vessels that carried a million tons of goods Coast Guard and RCMP officers to the DHS Federal Law
— such as gas, oil, grain and coal — through the Northern Enforcement Training Center in South Carolina. On gradu-
Sea Route in 2017. ation, the RCMP officers are classified as U.S. law enforce-
ment and Coast Guard personnel as Canadian. An RCMP
Russia, which is a major Arctic nation, also has been vessel would have one such Coast Guardsman and three
extremely active, building large icebreaker surface vessels RCMP officers and, if operating in U.S. waters, would be
at a faster rate than other nations and establishing six new considered a U.S. vessel, with the three Canadian officers
military bases in the Arctic zone since 2013. carrying out the duties of U.S. Border Patrol officials. The
same, in reverse, would be true for Coast Guard vessels in
Its size and strategic position are major reasons for Pres- Canadian waters.
ident Donald Trump’s interest in the U.S. buying Greenland
from Denmark, another of the eight Arctic Nations, which “That essentially erases what is the imaginary line in
consist of Canada, Russia, Denmark, the U.S., Norway, Swe- the water that could be easily exploited if we didn’t have
strong programs, such as Ship Rider, in effect on all naviga-
ble waterways between the two nations,” the Coast Guard’s
Sweiggart notes.

There is a much smaller maritime component in
maintaining security along the Southern border, but

20  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com

SPECIAL REPORT

new technologies have greatly aided to conduct its missions. .18" ht.
Coast Guard efforts in the Gulf of Larger ports, such as Seattle, Long Size does
Mexico, Caribbean, and South Atlan- matter!
tic — especially coastal Florida and Beach, San Diego, Miami, and New
Puerto Rico. York, have significant security sys- SURFACE MOUNT
tems of their own, yet the sheer vol-
The Coast Guard and its partner ume of vessels and goods moving AND PLUG IN
agencies will need to employ all of those through these facilities every week
— short-range over-water radar, UUVs, means their technologies must oper- MILITARY/CRITICAL
UAVs, USVs, and electronic fences — to ate cooperatively with federal, state APPLICATIONS
counter the activities of criminal orga- and local agencies to ensure the most
nizations that have them outfunded, comprehensive coverage to detect and QPL UNITS STANDARD
outgunned and outnumbered. curtail terrorist and criminal activities.
TRANSFORMERS
The shared responsibility for secu- “The maritime transportation sys- AND INDUCTORS
rity involves not only international tem is still the most prevalent method
partners, but U.S. federal, state and of moving goods and services in the • Audio Transformers
local agencies — and whatever tech- world. Attacks are for political pur- • Pulse Transformers
nologies they may have to offer — as poses, disruption, to incite fear, etc. • DC-DC Converters
well. That includes the Customs and For border security, it’s a much more
Border Patrol Air and Marine Opera- fundamental consideration that there • Transformers
tions (AMO), local sheriff offices and is usually a [criminal] financial incen- • MultiPlex Data
police departments, state patrols, tive to move things from one side of Bus Transformers
port and harbor police and patrols, the border to the other — drugs, money,
etc., as well as commercial port and people, etc.,” the Coast Guard’s Sweig- • Power &
industry partners. gart explains. “We see the involvement EMI Inductors
of organized groups and activity stem- VISIT OUR EXCITING
With approximately 1,800 federal ming from organized crime and cartels NEW WEBSITE with
agents and mission support person- from around the world.” SEARCH WIZARD
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gin Islands, AMO is the world’s larg- complex all the time. “The array of Electronics, Inc.
est civilian aviation and maritime law threats against the maritime domain
enforcement organization. It employs is complex and different actors are 143 Sparks Ave. Pelham, N.Y. 10803
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The SPEED-ER is a long-range observation the partner agencies responsible for
system that is cued to those targets which border security is to remain vigilant www.picoelectronics.com
have been detected by the TORNADO-ER, against that array of threats, continu-
enabling users to explore the targets and ally assess what those threats are and
their contents, and providing highly accu- come up with ways to counter them.
rate locational details. We’re certainly on the lookout for
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www.militaryaerospace.com MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  21

2010MAE_PicoElectronics 1 9/2/20 11:25 AM

TECHNOLOGY F CUS

Electronics cooling boosts capabilities
to match performance upgrades

Enabling technologies for electronics and embedded computing thermal management are expanding, as
systems designers demand higher performance, standards-based cooling, and reduced size and weight.

BY John Keller

Here’s the good news: electronic and ically that can tolerate huge amounts How to deal with waste heat in elec-
electro-optic subsystems for aerospace of heat. Instead, designers have to find tronics can be as much of an art as it is
and defense applications progressively ways to cool these ever-hotter elec- a science. Designers have many options
are becoming higher performance, tronic components, and they must do with which to attack the problem, rang-
smaller sized, and lighter weight. Now it affordably, and in small, lightweight ing from industry-standard approaches
here’s the bad news: all those benefits packages. to custom designs, depending on the
have a major system tradeoff: a grow- customer’s needs and budget. Almost
ing amount of waste heat. “We are seeing higher heat densi- always, however, the designer must
ties year after year,” points out Bryan strike a delicate balance among capa-
It’s a fact of life that aerospace Muzyka, manager of sales and market- bility, ruggedness, component size and
and defense systems designers can’t ing at Advanced Cooling Technologies weight, and costs.
escape: the higher the performance Inc. in Lancaster, Pa. “The intelligence
and the smaller the size, the greater and defense contractors are trying to Essentially the challenge of elec-
the amount of heat that designers must build electronic systems in smaller tronics cooling and thermal manage-
confront. It’s not as though electronic packages, so the waste heat is going ment boils down to three choices:
components can be designed econom- up.” conduction cooling, air cooling, and
liquid cooling. Each of these options
varies in cost, complexity, and in the
amount of heat they can eliminate.

This illustration show how VITA 48.8 air-flow-through cooling can increase heat dissi- Conduction cooling
pation in high-performance embedded computing.
Perhaps the most widespread and best-
known thermal management approach
for rugged aerospace and defense appli-
cations is conduction cooling. These
systems typically are sealed against air-
borne contaminants like dust and salt
spray, and conduct heat outward from
hot components inside the chassis to
cold walls or ambient outside air. It’s
relatively simple, reliable, and afford-
able, and has been a thermal manage-
ment go-to for decades.

Conduction cooling often calls for
wedge-lock devices along the edges

22  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com

of circuit cards to help transfer heat from the card, along CT assemblies vs conventional PTFE-based assemblies
rails, through the chassis, and eventually to the outside of
the chassis where it is dissipated. 2000

“Conduction cooling is by far the biggest cooling approach 1000
in terms of COTS hardware out there,” says Ivan Straznicky,
chief technology officer of advanced packaging at the Cur- Phase variation [ppm] 0
tiss-Wright Corp. Defense Solutions segment in Ashburn,
Va. “Still, as power goes up, it becomes more difficult for -1000
conduction-cooled modules to handle cooling.”
-2000
Despite increasing power consumption in embedded
cooling, designers won’t be writing-off conduction cooling -3000
any time soon. For many applications, its capacity to con-
trol system temperatures is perfectly adequate, and sys- -4000 –30 0 30 60 90 120
tems designers are finding new ways to stretch the limits –60
of conduction cooling in increasingly hot systems.
Temperatur [°C]
Curtiss-Wright’s Straznicky, for example, says his com-
pany is using conduction cooling for embedded comput- Low density PTFE MF_210_CT
ing modules today that dissipate as much as 200 Watts of MF_141_CT MF_318_CT
waste heat, whereas only a few years ago conduction cool-
ing reliably could remove perhaps half that amount of heat. No matter how
temperature fluctuates,
Other designers have similar experiences. “Four years we stay
ago we looked at 80 Watts for a 3U conduction-cooled card,
and now we are up to 100 Watts,” says Brian Hoden, prin- HUBER+SUHNER Consistent over Temperature
cipal mechanical engineer at Abaco Systems in Huntsville, (CT) assemblies offer a reliable and phase
Ala. “We are pushing the limitations in traditional conduc- invariant interconnect solution to satisfy a
tion cooling.” broad range of RF applications where phase
stability over temperature is key. They increase
Among the reasons for the enduring popularity of con- system accuracy by suppressing the abrupt
duction cooling are relatively low costs and its inherent phase change observed at room temperature
with conventional PTFE-based assemblies. The
industry-leading phase vs. temperature per-
formance is available in a wide selection of
cable size and design (flexible, handformable,
semi-rigid) to fulfill the RF requirements in Aero-
space & Defense, Test & Measurement and
Industrial environments.

For more facts: › hubersuhner.com

Curtiss-Wright’s Air-Flow-Through (AFT) cooling technology can HUBER+SUHNER AG 9100 Herisau/Switzerland
dissipate more than 100 Watts per 3U OpenVPX slot. HUBER+SUHNER INC. Charlotte NC 28273/USA

www.militaryaerospace.com

TECHNOLOGY F CUS

“The wedge lock is an area where we
have put a lot of work into for conduc-
tion-cooled cards; we have our own
wedge lock design,” he says. “The card-
to-chassis interface is really neglected
in our industry, but represents one of
the biggest temperature rises in an
electronic chassis.”

The VITA 48.8 thermal management design approach enabled avionics engineers at the Air cooling
Lockheed Martin Corp. Rotary and Mission Systems segment in Owego, N.Y., to reduce
the size and bulk of the avionics computer aboard the Lockheed Martin Sikorsky S-97 Another common and effective ther-
experimental high-speed helicopter. mal management technique involves
using moving air to transfer heat away
rugged design. Conduction cooling has Open Markets trade organization in from sensitive components. This can
no moving parts, as opposed to air and Oklahoma City (formerly the VME Inter- be as simple as using an internal fan
liquid cooling. No moving parts means national Trade Association). to blow air over hot components, much
fewer parts at risk of failure, and the like people see in laptop or desktop PCs.
card-edge wedge locks that go along VITA 48.2 applies to 3U and 6U VPX
with conduction cooling can protect embedded computing modules, and While air cooling is relatively
sensitive electronics from the ill effects defines the dimensions of plug-in units inexpensive, however, this approach
of shock and vibration. for conduction-cooled applications and presents several challenges to the aero-
connector-mounting details, as well as space and defense systems designer
One well-known and often-followed key sub-rack interfaces, to facilitate
open-systems industry standard for two-level maintenance and interoper- C— chief among them being reliabil-
embedded computing conduction ability among different vendors.
cooling is the VITA 48.2 standard, set ity. Cooling fans are mission-critical
forward by the VITA Open Standards, A big part of pushing the limita- moving parts that can fail at the worst
tions of conduction cooling lies in the possible time, as many designers have
This Curtiss-Wright Liquid-Flow-Through innovation that VITA 48.2 allows, says found. Plus, moving air can introduce
(LFT) OpenVPX module is capable of cool- Curtiss-Wright’s Straznicky. “It is in contaminants like dust and corrosive
ing 650 Watts. the interfaces, but on top of the mod- vapor into the system, which can cause
ule, where you can do some things to their own problems.
improve your cooling, such as different
cooling materials to improve the ther- These potential problems with
mal interface between the electronics ruggedness and reliability have given
and the frame.” rise to new and innovative standard
approaches, primarily through the VITA
Much of this type of technology inno- standards organization. Chief among
vation, however, remains proprietary to these is VITA 48.8, otherwise known as
the companies doing the design work, Air Flow-Through (AFT) cooling for VPX
and so cannot be described in detail. embedded computing designs.

Much of the innovation in conduc- VITA 48.8 is for advanced air-flow-
tion cooling, however, involves the through cooling in high-performance
card wedge lock, says Abaco’s Hoden. embedded computing and RF and
microwave such as military avionics.
It describes an approved approach to
designing with air-cooled plug-in mod-
ules using 3U and 6U VPX circuit cards
while retaining the VPX connector lay-
out. It helps reduce weight and cost for
high-density, high-power electronic
24  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com

TECHNOLOGY F CUS

nectors. It also can promote use of poly-

mer or composite materials to reduce

chassis size and weight.

Put in practice, the ANSI/VITA 48.8

design approach enabled avionics engi-

neers at the Lockheed Martin Corp.

Rotary and Mission Systems segment

in Owego, N.Y., to reduce the size and

bulk of the avionics computer aboard This commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) rug-

the Lockheed Martin Sikorsky S-97 ged embedded computing chassis from

experimental high-speed helicopter. Abaco systems is cold-plate cooled.

This lightweight custom-designed small- VITA 48.8 improves the efficiency of

form-factor embedded computing chassis the thermal path to cool high-perfor- need wedge locks with VITA 48.8; you

from Abaco Systems offers internal air cool- mance processors, field-programmable use jackscrews,” says Abaco’s Hoden.

ing similar to VITA 48.8. gate arrays (FPGAs), general-purpose “It is still rugged, but you can remove

graphics processing units (GPGPUs), the card with the jackscrews, and is a

systems by eliminating wedge locks and other hot components. Unlike tra- way of locking-down the card against

and ejector handles. dition air cooling, the standard spec- vibration. You don’t need an ejector

The standard permits air inlets at ifies gasketing to prevent particulate handle like you do with wedge locks.”

both card edges, as well as on the top contamination from the moving air. The primary design tradeoff of AFT

circuit card edge opposite the VPX con- “This is a big deal because you don’t cooling is the need to provide moving
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TECHNOLOGY F CUS

WHO’S WHO IN EMBEDDED COMPUTING THERMAL MANAGEMENT

Aavid Thermal Division of Boyd Aitech Defense Systems Inc. Data Device Corp. Meggitt Defense Systems Inc.
Corp. Chatsworth, Calif. Bohemia, N.Y. Irvine, Calif.
Lancaster, Pa. http://www.rugged.com http://www.ddc-web.com https://www.meggittdefense.com
https://www.boydcorp.com/
thermacore.html Behlman Electronics Inc. Elma Electronic Mercury Systems Inc.
Hauppauge, N.Y. Fremont, Calif. Andover, Mass.
Abaco Systems http://www.behlman.com https://www.elma.com https://www.mrcy.com
Huntsville, Ala
https://www.abaco.com Crane Aerospace & Electronics Extreme Engineering Solutions Milpower Source Inc.
Lynnwood, Wash. (X-ES) Inc. Belmont, N.H.
Advanced Cooling Technologies http://www.craneae.com Verona, Wis. https://milpower.com
Inc. (ACT) https://www.xes-inc.com
Lancaster, Pa. Crystal Group Inc. Parker Hannifin Corp. Aerospace
https://www.1-act.com Hiawatha, Iowa General Micro Systems Inc. Group
https://www.crystalrugged.com Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Alexandria, Va.
Advanced Thermal Solutions Inc. https://www.gms4sbc.com https://www.parker.com
Norwood, Mass. Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions
https://www.qats.com Ashburn, Va. Kontron America Inc. Vicor Corp.
https://www.curtisswrightds.com San Diego, Calif. Andover, Mass.
https://www.kontron.com http://www.vicorpower.com

air. “Compared to conduction cooling, competitors doing the same.” consumption. P2P systems allows the
you need an air source,” Hoden points VITA 48.4 liquid cooling does intro- working fluid, typically a refrigerant,
out. “You get better performance with to boil as it passes through the cold
an air-cooled chassis than you do with duce system complexity and cost, but plate and removes the heat from the
conduction cooling, but you need an makes up for it with its ability to cool hot surface of the device. this approach
external fan to cool it.” hot high-performance embedded sys- removes more heat than single-phase
tems. “At some point you take heat cooling, which does not allow the
A big advantage to VITA 48.8 is its away from the modules with liquid, cooling liquid to boil, ACT’s Muzyka
utility with 6U- and 3U-sized circuit but then that liquid needs to be cooled explains. “The more heat flow, the bet-
cards, points out Curtiss-Wright’s down, so somewhere in the system you ter your cooling,” Muzyka says. “But the
Straznicky. “Air flow through enables need a liquid heat exchanger,” Straz- more heat flow, the hotter your fluid
you to cool more, and is quite effec- nicky says. becomes.”
tive for 3U, because you have a short
span to blow the air. You can get up to It’s all about getting cooling liquid ACT also offers a single-phase liq-
150 Watts of cooling per module on 3U, to sources of the heat, says Abaco’s uid cooling approach called Pump 2,
and up to 250 Watts for 6U.” Hoden. “Liquid cooling allows you to in which the liquid also boils, but con-
get the liquid down to the hot spots tains the boiling liquid within the flow
Liquid cooling on a board, and that helps immensely. lines “The advantage of boiling is higher
With liquid you have a lot of options. heat loads without failing your electron-
Just five years ago the notion of liquid Liquid flow through will be something ics. All your components run at a very
cooling for high-performance embed- we will see a lot more of in the future.” uniform temperature, and we can have
ded computing was considered impos- smaller pumps and smaller flow rates to
sible for all but the most demanding ACT offers a cooling technology its enhance SWaP [size, weight, and power
and expensive applications. Now liquid engineers call Pumped Two Phase (P2P) consumption].We are providing the full
cooling is approaching the mainstream. Cooling, also known as Pumped Evap- system: the cold plates, the pumps, and
orative Cooling, which is active cooling the heat sinks packaged together.”
VITA 48.4 “is a big step in cooling,” that uses the latent energy of boiling
says Curtiss-Wright’s Straznicky. “It liquid to remove high levels of waste The SOSA standard
took a decade for liquid flow through heat efficiently.
to gain traction in the COTS world. Now One of the most influential open-sys-
there are several programs using liq- Compared with single-phase cool- tems embedded computing standards
uid flow through, and we have several ing P2P helps lower liquid flow rate,
and reduce system size and power

26  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com

TECHNOLOGY F CUS

in years is the Sensor Open Systems air flow through cooling. have cards that are aligned to the SOSA
Architecture (SOSA), which offers com- “SOSA starts with VITA 48.2, which guidelines.”
ponent interoperability, rapid inno-
vation, quick technology insertion, is conduction cooling for both 6U and Not only have the military services
reduced costs to the taxpayer, and the 3U cards,” says Curtiss-Wright’s Straz- voiced their support for SOSA, but each
ability for defense systems to keep up nicky. “The two others that have been service sends representatives to SOSA
with the cutting edge of commercial accepted into SOSA are VITA 48.8 air standards-formation committees.This
computer technology. flow through, and VITA 48.4 liquid gives the military a voice, side-by-side
cooling.” with industry, in how SOSA standards
SOSA borrows heavily from the VITA develop.
OpenVPX standards, and has gained It’s widely expected in the embed-
industry appeal by winnowing-down ded computing industry that SOSA Many consider SOSA to be the most
the large number of standards outlined standards will be requirements in dominant and influential of these
in OpenVPX to a relatively small num- the future for aerospace and defense standards not only because of its mil-
ber manageable to the military. electronics. If companies already are itary-wide support, but also because
offering VITA 48.2-, VITA 48.4-, or VITA its administration comes under The
Among the OpenVPX standards that 48.8-compatible products, then they Open Group in San Francisco — an
are becoming part of SOSA are the VITA will have at least part of the SOSA industry consortium in place to pro-
48.2 specification for VPX microcom- requirements checked-off in future mote open, vendor-neutral technol-
puters using conduction cooling; the procurements. ogy standards and certifications. Until
VITA 48.4 specification for using VPX SOSA, the latest standards typically
liquid flow through cooling; and the “We are looking at VITA 48.4,” says have been military service-specific or
VITA 48.8 specification for using VPX Abaco’s Hoden. There is some inter- platform-specific initiatives. 
est in this, especially in SOSA, so we

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www.militaryaerospace.com MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  27

RF&

microwave

Public-private partnership to launch eLORAN
technology to back-up and accompany GPS

BY Jamie Whitney

MIDDLEBURG, Va. — Global Navigation Sat- nations, militaries have since shown United States Coast Guard took
ellite Systems (GNSS) like the Global the ability to shoot down satellites in over an improved system, dubbed
Positioning System (GPS) and its com- addition to jamming signals terrestri- LORAN-C, starting in 1958. In 2009,
parable GNSS systems have revolu- ally. In fact, India joined the U.S., China, amidst the Great Recession, President
tionized the way both the military and Russia just last year in shooting Barack Obama declared the LORAN
and civilians get from “point a” to down one of its own satellites. program obsolete and announced
“point b.” plans to terminate it. In 2010, the U.S.
“It’s as significant as India’s first Coast Guard began shutting down
While the space-based navigation nuclear blast,” Saurav Jha, the editor the system.
systems put into orbit by the United in chief of the Delhi Defense Review,
States, Russia, China, the EU, India, told the New York Times in March Just five years later, the U.S. House
and Japan were once thought to be 2019. “The militarization of space is of Representatives reopened discus-
relatively safe from harm by opposing underway, whether anybody likes it sions of an enhanced version of LORAN
or not.” -eLORAN. In 2018, President Donald
U.S. military and transportation experts are Trump signed into law the National
considering eLORAN to augment GPS in Should GPS be taken offline or Timing Resilience and Security Act,
areas where navigation is difficult. somehow interfered by a nefarious as part of the Frank LoBiondo Coast
actor, the U.S. Department of Defense Guard Authorization Act, which man-
(DOD) would have to look to its past to dates the Secretary of Transportation
ensure navigation, location, and timing to establish and sustain a land-based
functions stay online. timing system to provide a back-up to
GPS, namely “to ensure the availabil-
Thanks to a public-private partner- ity of uncorrupted and non-degraded
ship, a much-improved version of a timing signals for military and civil-
technology that was birthed during ian users in the event that GPS tim-
World War II can complement GPS and ing signals are corrupted, degraded,
act as a back-up if needed. unreliable, or otherwise unavailable.”
This law was co-sponsored by Sen.
LORAN - or, LOng RAnge Naviga- Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Ed Mar-
tion - got its start during World War II key (D-Mass.) in the Senate and U.S.
and utilized low-frequency hyperbolic Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) and
radio navigation to keep convoys on U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) in
the move across the Atlantic and to aid the House.
pilots and ships in the Pacific Theater.
This was done by figuring out how long Bridge Littleton and Daniel Olmes,
it took to transmit between the “mas- co-founders and co-presidents of Hel-
ter” radio transmitter and the signal at len Systems, based in Middleburg, Va.,
the second station.

In the intervening years, the

28  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com

RF&

microwave

spoke about the efforts their company and public/private ogies in Melbourne, Fla.; Microchip Technologies in Chan-
partners have made to launch eLORAN. dler, Ariz., Continental Electronics Corporation in Dallas;
and NeoTech Natel Epic OnCore in Chatsworth, Calif.
“Our focus was really building a world-class team to
then be able to go and deploy this system through a future L3Harris is acting as the eLORAN system integrator;
partnership with the U.S. government and put the system Microchip is providing frequency and timing engineer-
back on air,” said Hellen’s Littleton. “What we are really ing expertise and system hardware solutions; Conti-
focused on is helping the government reconstitute and nental Electronics is providing eLORAN transmitters;
deploy eLORAN as a resilient co-primary, independent and NeoTech is providing eLORAN contract manufac-
backup for GPS.” turing services.

Beyond GPS In addition, Booz Allen Hamilton in McLean, Va., is pro-
viding management services and cyber security as well as
Both civilian and military consumers utilize GPS via myr- adoption integration, and Crown Consulting Inc., in Arling-
iad devices, but as noted, the SATCOM system is vulnera- ton, Va., is providing training and operation support.
ble to interference.
It is envisioned that eLORAN could be a subscription
“It’s wonderful,” Littleton says of GPS. “It’s just got this service much like the Automatic Dependent Surveil-
one weakness - it’s 12,000 miles in space. That’s just what lance-Broadcast (ADS-B) system utilized by the Federal
it’s going to be. So, what is great about eLORAN is there Aviation Administration. 
are no common failure modes between GPS and eLORAN.
GPS is space based, eLORAN is terrestrial based. GPS is To learn more about the eLORAN system and the public/private partnership,
high frequency, eLORAN is low frequency — it’s 90 to 110 please visit https://hellensystems.com/, or contact Hellen Systems by visiting
kilohertz. GPS is low power; eLORAN is high power. GPS https://hellensystems.com/contact/.
can’t penetrate buildings and go indoors, eLORAN can
because it’s a low frequency wave and its high power. It QI Q D+ I
can penetrate through buildings, can go underground, can h
go through tunnels, can go under water and is unaffected
by space phenomenon.” 

According to Littleton and Olmes, the eLORAN signals  -w
are three to five million times stronger than GPS/GNSS N 2
and have 99.999% availability and reliability. Each tower
has a 1,200-mile signal range. Its spectrum of 90-110 kHz 
is internationally protected, and eLORAN is deployable,
so military branches can set up the system at their bases 
around the world.

For the eLORAN system to cover the contiguous United 
States, six towers are needed for timing applications and
19 are need for position and navigation. ()

In addition to positioning, navigation, and timing, the
LORAN Data Channel (LDC) acts as a channel within eLO- q
RAN and enables one-way data communication over 1,200
miles, with nearly 100% of its strength at that distance.The
LCD features include time of day and clock corrections;
encrypted, mission specific data messaging/SW updates;
authentication of eLORAN broadcasts (anti spoofing); secure,
un-jammable command and control; and penetrates all
structures in all weather conditions.

Partnering with the United States federal government
and Hellen Systems to develop eLORAN is L3Harris Technol-

www.militaryaerospace.com MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  29

RF&

microwave

Boeing eyes MUOS SATCOM to improve
communications aboard P-8A reconnaissance plane

BY John Keller

PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. — U.S. Navy aerial and quality of service. enables warfighters to communicate in
surveillance experts are asking the Boe- Boeing, the P-8 designer, will con- difficult areas like forests where trees
ing Co. to determine the feasibility of could attenuate relatively high-fre-
integrating the new Mobile User Objec- duct a technical study to determine the quency signals.
tive System (MUOS) satellite commu- feasibility of installing MUOS capabil-
nications (SATCOM) system aboard the ity on dual SATCOM channels on the The P-8A is a militarized version
P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. P-8A, while maintaining legacy voice, of the Boeing 737 single-aisle jetliner
Link-11, and DAMA/DAMA-IW SAT- hardened for long-range maritime
Officials of the Naval Air Systems COM with the current UHF 5 and UHF patrol and anti-submarine warfare
Command at Patuxent River Naval Air 6 radio suite on the P-8. (ASW) missions. The P-8 is replacing
Station, Md., have announced their the Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion mari-
intention to award a sole-source deliv- Boeing also will determine if the time patrol turboprop aircraft.
ery order to the Boeing Defense, Space Multifunctional Information Distribu-
& Security segment in Seattle to inves- tion System (MIDS) Tactical Air Nav- Ultimately, the Navy plans to buy 108
tigate MUOS integration aboard the P-8. igation System (TACAN) would be P-8A aircraft from Boeing to replace the
compatible with a MUOS installation service’s fleet of 196 P-3C Orion maritime
The value of the upcoming contract aboard the P-8A. patrol aircraft, which are approaching
to Boeing has yet to be negotiated. Con- the end of operational life. The P-3 is a
tract award is expected in early 2021. The MUOS operates as a global cel- version of the Lockheed Martin Electra
lular service provider to support the four-engine turboprop aircraft.
MUOS is a UHF communications warfighter with modern cell phone-
system that operates at frequencies like capabilities such as multimedia. The plane’s flight management sys-
from 300 MHz to 3 GHz and will replace tem and the stores management system
the legacy UHF Follow-On (UFO) sys- It converts a commercial 3G wide- have been developed by GE Aviation Sys-
tem before that system reaches its end band code division multiple access tems in Grand Rapids, Mich. The cabin
of life. MUOS is intended to provide (WCDMA) cellular phone system to a has as many as seven operator consoles.
mobile users with new capabilities and military UHF SATCOM radio system
enhanced mobility, access, capacity, using geosynchronous satellites in The Poseidon’s MX-20HD digital
place of cell towers. Operating in UHF electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR)
multi-spectral sensor turrets come
from L-3 Communications Wescam in
Burlington, Ontario. The MX-20HD is
gyro-stabilized and can have as many
as seven sensors, including infrared,
CCDTV, image intensifier, laser range-
finder, and laser illuminator. 

Does the Navy P-8A reconnaissance plane need MUOS satellite communications? Boeing The P-8A will have the CAE Inc. advanced inte-
is about to find out. grated magnetic anomaly detection (MAD) sys-
tem. The Navy plans to arm the P-8A with the
MK 54 torpedo. For more information contact
Boeing Defense, Space & Security online at
www.boeing.com, or Naval Air Systems Com-
mand at www.navair.navy.mil.

30  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com

UNMANNvEeDh ic le s

Belgium will receive four MQ-9B SkyGuardian medium-sized unmanned aircraft from man-
ufacturer General Atomics, as well as ground-control stations and sensor payloads.

General Atomics to build MA-9B SkyGuardian
UAVs, ground stations, and sensor payloads

BY John Keller

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio — Unmanned type-certifiable system. It has the Raytheon MTS-B multi-
aerial vehicle (UAV) designers at Gen- General Atomics is building the spectral targeting system electro-opti-
eral Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. cal system, the General Atomics Lynx
in Poway, Calif., will build four MQ-9B MQ-9B SkyGuardian from the ground multi-mode radar, VHF/UHF radios,
SkyGuardian UAVs for Belgium under up to meet global airworthiness stan- DO-178 and DO-254 design assurance
terms of a $188.9 million contract. dards, and involves hardware and for software and avionics, de-ice/anti-
software upgrades such as improved ice system. automatic takeoff and land-
Officials of the U.S.Air Force Life Cycle structural fatigue and damage toler- ing, and fire-protected engine bay.
Management Center at Wright-Patterson ance, high-reliability flight-control
Air Force Base, Ohio, are asking General software, enhancements that enable The weaponized version of the
Atomics to build the four MQ-9B UAVS, operations in adverse weather condi- MQ-9B can carry a variety of preci-
two certifiable ground-control stations, tions like icing, and the ability to sur- sion-guided missions, multimode
spare parts, and support equipment. vive bird and lightning strikes. maritime surface-search radar, and
automation information system. 
The MQ-9B SkyGuardian is a version MQ-9B can be configured with UAV
of the General Atomics Predator B UAV sensor payloads such as detect and On this contract General Atomics will do the
that meets the STANAG-4671 NATO avoid (DAA), and airborne due regard work in Poway, Calif., and should be finished
standard, which is the NATO UAV air- radar (DRR) for operation in non-coop- by March 2024. For more information contact
worthiness certification to enable mil- erative airspace. The MQ-9B can fly as General Atomics Aeronautical Systems online
itary UAVs to operate in the airspace high as 40,000 feet above sea level, as at www.ga-asi.com, or the Air Force Life Cycle
of other NATO members. It incorpo- fast as 210 knots, and can fly unrefu- Management Center at www.aflcmc.af.mil.
rates designs necessary to achieve a eled for as long as 40 hours.

www.militaryaerospace.com MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  31

UNMANNvEeDh ic le s

SRC to build counter-drone system to protect
expeditionary forces from enemy UAVs

BY John Keller

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. — U.S. Army count- military forces. ronments; critical infrastructure pro-
er-unmanned aircraft experts are ask- SRC has special expertise in count- tection; security for VIPs and high
ing Syracuse Research Corp. (SRC) in profile events; and urban environment
North Syracuse, N.Y., to build and er-UAV systems, and offers the Silent surveillance.
deploy ruggedized counter-drone Archer counter-UAS system, which
systems designed to destroy or dis- detects, tracks, classifies, identifies, SRC experts have demonstrated
able enemy unmanned aerial vehi- and disrupts low, slow, and small the Silent Archer anti-drone sys-
cles (UAVs). unmanned airborne threats, commonly tem at U.S. government-sponsored
referred to as drones. counter-UAS test events like the Joint
Officials of the Army Contracting Integrated Air and Missile Defense
Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., SRC’s Silent Archer combines radar Organization (JIAMDO) Black Dart
has announced a $425.9 million five- and electronic warfare (EW) systems, counter-drone exercise at Eglin Air
year contract to SRC for development, a camera, and a 3-D user display to Force Base, Fla.; the Army Warfight-
production, deployment and support defeat hostile drones operating singly ing Assessment (AWA) technology
of the Expeditionary-Low, Slow, Small or in pairs, as well as in swarms. assessments; Network Integration
Unmanned Aircraft System Integrated Evaluation (NIE) events; and Maneu-
Defeat System (E-LIDS). Silent Archer first provides spatial, vers and Fires Integrated Exercise
frequency, and optical surveillance (MFIX) experiments at Fort Benning,
E-LIDS will to shield U.S. and allied capabilities to detect, track, clas- Ga., SRC officials say.
expeditionary forces from UAV-based sify and identify the airborne threat,
improvised explosive devices (IEDs), as and then applies low-cost electronic Silent Archer comes in three dif-
well as from more sophisticated enemy methods to disrupt the UAS, such as ferent configurations: expeditionary
use of UAVs to attack military forces or jamming the communications links for use on tactical combat vehicles;
civilian targets with deliver explosives. between the operator and the aircraft, fixed site for use at permanent
SRC officials say. installations; and fly-away kit for
This is the second big contract quick-deployment use at overseas
within a week for vehicle-mount SRC’s counter-UAV system is for military operations.
counter-UAV systems. Also last week force protection in contested envi-
the Leonardo DRS Land Systems seg- The system’s open architecture
ment in St. Louis won a $189.8 mil- The SRC E-LIDS (above) will shield U.S. and and sensor-agnostic design sup-
lion five-year contract to develop and allied expeditionary forces from UAV-based ports offers capabilities in direction
build the Mobile-Low, Slow, Small improvised explosive devices (IEDs), as well finding; line-of-bearing information;
Unmanned Aircraft System Integrated as from more sophisticated enemy use of and wireless networking for commu-
Defeat System (M-LIDS) to detect, UAVs to attack military forces or civilian nicating among systems and com-
destroy, or disable small, inexpensive targets with explosives. mand-and-control centers. 
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) like
commercial quadcopters that are oper- On this contract SRC will do the work at loca-
ating as airborne improvised explosive tions to be determined with each order, and
devices (IEDs). should be finished by July 2025. For more
information contact SRC online at www.
SRC will design E-LIDS to counter srcinc.com, or the Army Contracting Com-
enemy armed and intelligence gather- mand-Redstone Arsenal at https://acc.army.mil/
ing UAV’s operating at various speeds contractingcenters/acc-rsa/.
and altitudes, which are targeting U.S.

32  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com

E L E C T RO

watc hO P T I C S

The electro-optically guided Javelin anti-ar-
mor weapon is designed to destroy main
battle tanks, armored personnel carriers,
and other armored combat vehicles.

Army orders imaging infrared Javelin anti-armor
missiles with tandem warheads

BY John Keller

REDSTONE ARSENAL,Ala. — Missiles experts at sonnel carriers, and other armored tronic unit, and system software at
Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon combat vehicles. The missile also the Raytheon Missiles & Defense seg-
Technologies Corp., are building Jave- is effective against buildings and ment in Tucson, Ariz. Lockheed Mar-
lin anti-tank missiles for the U.S. Army, enemy helicopters. tin, meanwhile, produces the missile
Marine Corps, and Navy under terms seeker and the electronic safe, arm,
of a $47.2 million order. Javelin has an imaging infra- and fire electronic module in Ocala,
red-guided seeker to guide the warhead Fla., and performs missile all-up-round
Officials of the Army Contracting to its target. The tandem warhead has assembly in Troy, Ala.
Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., two shaped charges: a precursor war-
are asking the Raytheon/Lockheed head to detonate any explosive reac- On this contract the Raytheon/Lock-
Martin Javelin Joint Venture based in tive armor, and a primary warhead to heed Martin Javelin Joint Venture will
Tucson, Ariz., to build Javelin weapon penetrate base armor. do the work in Tucson, Ariz., and should
systems for U.S. military services. be finished by August 2023. 
Javelin offers lock-on before launch
The electro-optically guided Jav- and automatic self-guidance that For more information contact Raytheon at
elin anti-armor weapon is an infan- attacks the vulnerable tops of armored www.raytheonmissilesanddefense.com, or
try fire-and-forget missile with vehicles. A two-person infantry team Lockheed Martin at www.lockheedmartin.com/
lock-on before launch and automatic typically carries the missile. en-us/products/javelin.html.
self-guidance designed to destroy
main battle tanks, armored per- Raytheon produces the command
launch unit, missile guidance elec-

www.militaryaerospace.com MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  33

E L E C T RO

watc hO P T I C S

Raytheon picks SWIR camera from Quantum
Imaging for tactical imaging applications

McKINNEY, Texas — Electro-optical surveil- enhance a family of products that pro- Raytheon Technologies will use a high-defi-
lance experts at Raytheon Technologies vides detailed intelligence data from the nition short-wave infrared (SWIR) camera
needed a high-definition short-wave visual and infrared spectrum to support from Quantum Imaging for tactical imaging
infrared (SWIR) camera for tactical U.S. military, civilian and allied missions. applications.
imaging applications.They found their
solution from Quantum Imaging Inc. in Quantum Imaging manufactures SWIR imaging mode, or in asynchro-
Colorado Springs, Colo. the QI-SWIR-HD10 miniaturized nous laser pulse detection (ALPD).
high-definition SWIR camera module
Officials of the Raytheon Intelligence that images in the spectral range of In ALPD mode, the detector serves
& Space segment in McKinney, Texas, 0.5 to 1.7 microns. The camera uses as a two-dimensional sensor that can
have awarded a $13.5 million order to an indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) capture short-duration laser pulses and
Quantum Imaging for a high-defini- detector with 10-by-10-micron pixel provide the x-y position of those pulses
tion SWIR camera for tactical imaging pitch and integral antiblooming. during the day and at night. 
applications.
On-board correlated double sampling For more information contact Quantum Imaging
Quantum Imaging uses on-chip delivers a dynamic range in excess of online at https://quantumimaging.com, or Ray-
processing and offers resolution of 70dB with read noise of less than 40 rms theon Intelligence & Space at www.raytheon.com.
1280-by-1024-pixels. The camera is electrons in cooled operation making it
based on a sensor designed and man- suitable for light-starved applications.
ufactured by Quantum Imaging par-
ent company SemiConductor Devices Available with 16 bit Camera-
(SCD) in Misgav, Israel. Link and analog NTSC output, the
QI-SWIR-HD10 will run from 30 to 60
“Our strategy is to leverage SCD’s frames per second. Automatic gain and
cutting-edge sensors to significantly exposure control are available to opti-
improve the performance of imaging mize image quality over a large range
and night vision systems used for both of imaging conditions.
military and commercial applications,”
says Mark Fydenkevez, president and A proprietary non-uniformity cor-
CEO of Quantum Imaging. rection NUC provides high quality
imagery over -40 to 70 degrees Cel-
Raytheon engineers will apply sius operating conditions. The camera
Quantum Imaging SWIR cameras to also operates either in a conventional

U.S. intelligence to make broader the status quo by issuing new con- these capabilities, which will help
use of commercial satellite photos tracts late this year to reshape the drive down costs for the govern-
intelligence community’s relation- ment. “I think the best philosophy
Starting in 1961, the National Recon- ship with the commercial satellite that underpins that is one that says
naissance Office has been designing, remote sensing industry. NRO offi- ‘We really are looking to buy every-
building, launching, and operating cials, however, say they don’t want where we can and only build what
the U.S. fleet of satellites for intelli- any commercial imaging company we have to—what’s really not avail-
gence imagery. Over the years, that to exist solely to support govern- able on the commercial market,”
mission has evolved, bolting on new ment requirements; there should says Peter Muend, the head of NRO’s
components and missions. Now the be a real commercial market for commercial imagery efforts.
NRO is looking to move beyond

34  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com

PRODUCT

applications

COMMUNICATIONS Air Station, Md. for Denmark.
The Navy Raytheon NMT next-generation The AN/AQS-22 ALFS is the primary under-
Navy chooses L3Harris to
SATCOM terminals for ships, SATCOM system provide assured connectiv- sea warfare sensor of the MH-60R multi-mission
submarines, and shore sites ity between a ship’s or submarine’s computer helicopter. This integrated dipping sonar system
network and the Global Information Grid. The enables the MH-60R to detect, pinpoint, track,
U.S. Navy communications experts needed a new system is expected to be installed in about 300 and classify enemy submarines. It also performs
satellite communications (SATCOM) modem for U.S. Navy ships, submarines, and shore stations. acoustic intercept, underwater communications,
use aboard surface warships, submarines, and and environmental data acquisition.
shore installations. They found their solution NMT will replace several existing SATCOM
from L3Harris Technologies Inc. systems developed in the mid-1980s, and will The AN/AQS-22 has multi-frequency capa-
provide naval commanders and sailors with bility that enables the system to adapt its per-
Officials of the Naval Information Warfare greater data throughput and improved protec- formance to varying environmental conditions.
Systems Command (NAVWAR) in San Diego tion against enemy intercepts. With a rapid search rate, the AN/AQS-22 iden-
have announced a $47.6 million contract to the tifies and neutralizes threats quickly, and to
L3Harris Communications Systems-East segment The U.S. Army L3Harris MET is replacing as cover a large area.
in Camden, N.J., to develop and build the Navy many as 80 AN/GSC-52, AN/GSC-39, AN/FSC-
Wideband Anti-Jam Modem (WAM). 78, and other aging strategic SATCOM terminals The AN/AQS-22 also permits a long detec-
with new X- and Ka-band terminals to provide tion range over a wide area, reducing the
The WAM is the Navy’s next-generation internet protocol and dedicated circuit connec- number of helicopter sorties necessary to per-
wideband SATCOM modem that will integrate tivity within the Global Information Grid. form active airborne ASW screening, Raytheon
with the Navy Multiband Terminal (NMT) on officials say.
ships and submarines, and with the Modern- On this contract L3Harris will do the work
ization of Enterprise Terminal (MET) on shore in Salt Lake City; Camden, N.J.; Tempe, Ariz.; The dipping sonar system weighs 600
for communications over the Wideband Global Hanover, Md.; San Diego; Bonita Springs, Fla.; pounds, has a strong, safe, and reliable reeling
SATCOM (WGS) satellite constellation. and Chambersburg, Pa., and should be finished system, and built-in fault monitoring. Raytheon,
by August 2027. For more information contact in partnership with Thales Underwater Systems,
The Navy may buy as many as 966 WAM pro- L3Harris Communications Systems-East online produces an average of 20 full-rate AN/AQS-22
duction units over the lifetime of the program. at www2.l3t.com/cs-east, or Navy NAVWAR at production systems per year.
This contract has options that could increase its www.public.navy.mil/navwar/Pages/default.aspx.
value to $83.1 million. On this order Lockheed Martin will do the
SENSORS work in Brest, France; Portsmouth, R.I.; and
NAVWAR awarded the contract on behalf Owego, N.Y., and should be finished by Decem-
of the Navy’s Program Executive Office (PEO) Lockheed Martin to install ber 2024. For more information contact Lock-
Command, Control, Communications, Comput- AN/AQS-22 dipping sonar heed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems online
ers and Intelligence (C4I) Communication and aboard 39 ASW helicopters at www.lockheedmartin.com, or Naval Air Sys-
Global Positioning System Navigation Program tems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.
Office (PMW/A 170) at Patuxent River Naval Airborne anti-submarine warfare (ASW) experts
at Lockheed Martin Corp. will install 39 AN/
AQS-22 Airborne Low Frequency Sonar (ALFS)
systems aboard U.S. Navy MH-60R helicopter
under terms of a $181.7 million order.

Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command
at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., are
asking the Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission
Systems segment in Owego, N.Y., to install the
Raytheon AN/AQS-22 ALFS on eight MH-60R
helicopters for the Navy, 24 for India, and seven

www.militaryaerospace.com MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  35

PRODUCT

applications

SOFTWARE requiring the creators of falsified media to get cal data; and other supplies and services neces-
every semantic detail correct, while defenders only sary to install NVCD systems that are compatible
Kitware to develop algorithms need to find one, or a very few, inconsistencies. with the F/A-18 series jet fighter-bombers, and
to defeat disinformation from EA-18G electronic warfare (EW) jet.
falsified media reports SemaFor seeks to develop semantic technol-
ogies for analyzing media. Semantic detection The JHMCS projects symbology and imagery
Intelligence experts at Kitware Inc. in Clifton algorithms will determine if media is generated onto the jet fighter-bomber pilot’s helmet-mounted
Park, N.Y., will help U.S. military researchers or manipulated. Attribution algorithms will infer visor to help meet the workload of operating the
detect and defeat automated enemy disinfor- if media originates from a particular organiza- aircraft; detecting, tracking, and engaging targets;
mation campaigns launched by manipulating tion or individual. Characterization algorithms and dealing with emergency situations. It enables
the Internet, news, and entertainment media. will reason about whether media was generated high-performance jet fighter and bomber pilots to
or manipulated for malicious purposes. cue weapons and sensors at night.
Officials of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., have The results of detection, attribution, and The NVCD portion of the system is designed
announced an $11.9 million contract to Kitware for characterization algorithms can help develop to enable near daytime tactics at night, while
the Semantic Forensics (SemaFor) project. explanations for system decisions, and rank also providing the system’s head-up display data
assets for analyst review. These SemaFor tech- over the eye in addition to camera video record-
SemaFor will develop technologies to detect, nologies will help identify, deter, and understand ing of the pilot’s viewpoint.
attribute, and characterize multi-modal falsified adversary disinformation campaigns.
media like text, audio, images, and video automat- The NVCD enables aircrews simultaneously to
ically to defend against large-scale automated dis- On this contract Kitware will do the work in display radar and navigation symbology on the
information attacks. Kitware joins PAR Government Clifton Park, New York, and Albany, N.Y.; Cor- helmet’s display and cue short-range air-to-air
Systems Corp. in Rome, N.Y., which won an $11.9 vallis, Ore.; Tempe, Ariz.; Urbana, Ill.; and Ann missiles. This night vision capability helps pilots
million SemaFor contract from DARPA last June. Arbor, Mich., and should be finished by July 2024. identify terrain, targets, and other aircraft at night.
For more information contact Kitware online at
Statistical detection techniques have been www.kitware.com, or DARPA at www.darpa.mil. The JHMCS and NVCD are mounted on a
successful, yet media generation and manipula- lightweight HGU 55/P helmet shell that can
tion technology is advancing rapidly. Purely sta- D IS P L AYS accommodate the day or night modules. The
tistical detection methods quickly are becoming system offers a 100-by-40-degree field of view
insufficient for detecting falsified media. Collins Elbit Vision Systems to build or 40 degrees circular, with symbology or video
night vision helmet-mounted displays inserted into the night-vision scene.
Detection techniques that rely on statisti-
cal fingerprints, moreover, often can be fooled Combat avionics experts at Collins Elbit Vision Collins-Elbit Vision Systems is a joint venture
with limited additional resources like algorithm Systems (CEVS) in Fort Worth, Texas, will pro- of the Raytheon Technologies Corp. Collins Aero-
development, data, or computers. vide the U.S. and allied militaries with head-up space segment in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Elbit
helmet-mounted displays for high-performance Systems of America in Fort Worth, Texas. On this
Yet existing automated media manipulation jet fighter-bomber aircraft under terms of a $12.9 contract CEVS will do the work in Merrimack,
and generation algorithms rely heavily on purely million contract announced Friday. N.H.; Wilsonville, Ore.; Atlanta; and Fort Worth,
data driven approaches and are prone to making Texas, and should be finished by July 2022.
semantic errors. Faces generated by the Gener- Officials of the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center
ative Adversarial Network (GAN), for example, Aircraft Division at Patuxent River Naval Air Sta- For more information contact Raytheon Tech-
may have semantic inconsistencies such as mis- tion, Md., are asking CEVS to provide 60 JHMCS nologies Collins Aerospace online at www.rtx.
matched earrings, which provide an opportunity night vision devices, 60 JHMCS night display com, Elbit Systems of America at www.elbitsys-
for defenders to gain an asymmetric advantage. adapters, and 30 JHMCS helmet mounted dis- tems-us.com, or the Naval Air Warfare Center Air-
play test sets (HMDTS) for the U.S. Navy. craft Division at www.navair.navy.mil/nawcad. 
A suite of semantic inconsistency detectors
would increase the burden on media falsifiers by In addition the contract calls for CEVS to provide
16 JHMCS HMDTS for Canada; five JHMCS HMDTS
for Kuwait; and two JHMCS HMDTS for Malaysia,
as well as two Hoffman adapter kits for Austra-
lia and one Hoffman adapter kit for Switzerland.

Additionally, this contract provides new and
modified support equipment; interim repairs;
non-recurring engineering, testing, and techni-

36  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com

To submit new products for consideration, new products
contact John Keller at [email protected].

EMBEDDED TEST POWER SUPPLIES NAVIGATION AND GUIDANCE

Threshold comparator card 300-Watt DC-DC converters to power Small inertial navigation and
for test and measurement communications introduced by TDK guidance units for unmanned
introduced by Marvin Test vehicles introduced by VectorNav
TDK-Lambda Americas Inc. in San Diego is
Marvin Test Solutions Inc. in Irvine, Calif., is introducing additional 12.5-amp 300-Watt VectorNav Technologies LLC in Dallas is intro-
introducing the GX3748 series 48-channel rated models to the company’s i7C non-iso- ducing the VectorNav Tactical Embedded line
threshold comparator card for event monitor- lated DC-DC converters for communications, of inertial products for autonomous pointing
ing and control. The GX3748 combines 48 volt- industrial, test-and-measurement, and bat- and geo-referencing applications like gim-
age comparator channels with windowing and tery-powered applications. With an input balled intelligence, surveillance and recon-
precision level detection. Users can generate range of 9 to 53 volts DC, users can adjust naissance (ISR); satellite communications
triggers based on user programmable voltage the output from 5 to 28 volts. The i7C topol- (SATCOM) systems; laser detection and rang-
threshold levels to enable time-critical response ogy enables users to switch from buck (voltage ing (LiDAR) mapping; and photogrammetry.
when out-of-limit test conditions occur. Users reduction) to boost (voltage increase) oper- Featuring a tactical-grade inertial measure-
also can combine several high-density com- ation. The series is for generating additional ment unit (IMU) and a multi-band global nav-
parator cards in one chassis without sacrific- high power outputs, from existing 12-, 24-, igation satellite system (GNSS) receivers, the
ing performance or system response time to 36-, or 48-volt systems. Efficiencies to 96 Tactical Embedded delivers milliradian atti-
expand monitoring capacity to many hundreds percent help minimize power losses in com- tude accuracy and centimeter-level positioning
of channels. The 50-volt input range is for a munications and related applications. Under capability in a 15-gram package. VectorNav’s
wide variety of test and measurement appli- light loads, the i7C’s control techniques reduce Tactical Embedded line features support for
cations, combining 16 channels of compara- power dissipation. A 5 milliamps input current an external selective availability anti-spoofing
tor window functionality with 32 channels of draw is typical under zero load conditions. module (SAASM) GPS for defense applications
threshold detection. Users can monitor signal This can be reduced to typically 0.25 milli- in ISR, electronic warfare (EW), munitions,
levels on any of the input channels, as well as amps with the remote on-off is in standby and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) naviga-
generate event timestamp, digitize, and store mode. The basic models include an output tion. The Tactical Embedded is designed and
data on one channel per 16 channel group. The voltage adjustment pin, positive or negative engineered at VectorNav’s AS9100-certified
GX3748 incorporates a user-configurable Intel/ logic remote on-off, positive remote sense, facility in Dallas, and includes the VN-110E
Altera Stratix III field-programmable gate array plus input under-voltage, over-current and IMU/AHRS, the VN-210E GNSS-Aided INS,
(FPGA)-based daughter card, enabling the use thermal protection. The full-featured mod- and the VN-310E Dual Antenna GNSS/INS.
of Quartus or the license-free Quartus Prime els have a power good signal, output current Highlights of the navigation and guidance
Lite programming tools. For more information monitoring and the ability to synchronize the products include 0.05-0.1-degree heading;
contact Marvin Test Solutions online at www. operating frequency to minimize system noise. 0.015-degree pitch and roll; 1-meter horizon-
marvintest.com. For more information contact TDK-Lambda tal and 1.5-meter vertical position accuracy;
Americas online at www.us.lambda.tdk.com.

www.militaryaerospace.com MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  37

new products

1-centimeter real-time kinematic (RTK) posi- in production. The board meets draft Sensor only to enhance its alignment with the SOSA
tioning accuracy; less than 1-degree per hour Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) open-sys- standard. The SBC3511 also can have sup-
gyro in-run bias; less than 10-micro G accel tems standards. The SBC3511 is based on the port from the Abaco software suite, includ-
in-run bias; 184 channel L1/L2/E1/E5b GNSS Intel Xeon E-2276ME 6-core/12-thread proces- ing PBIT for early monitoring and reporting;
receiver; support for external RTK, post-pro- sor that operates at 2.8 GHz with TurboBoost CIBIT for non-intrusive ongoing and on-de-
cessed kinematic (PPK), and SAASM GPS; to 4.5 GHz, and is supported by a Xilinx Ultras- mand monitoring and reporting; and Health
update rates of 800 Hz IMU and 400 Hz navi- cale+ field-programmable gate array (FPGA). Toolkit, which acts as a system monitor to col-
gation; measures 1.2 by 1.2 by 0.4 inches; and The SBC3511 single-board computer has 64 lect and report the health of all elements in the
uses less than 480 milliamps of power at 3.3 gigabytes of DDR4 RAM and 256 gigabytes of system. The SBC3511 embedded computing
volts. For more information contact VectorNav NVMe soldi-state data storage. Its IPMI sub- board features a thermal management design
Technologies online at www.vectornav.com. system operates from 3.3 volts of AUX power that enables deterministic high performance
even at the extended temperatures typical of
BOARD PRODUCTS deployment on space-constrained platforms
in combat zones. This contrasts less efficient
SOSA-aligned Xeon single-board thermal management designs that see a proces-
computer introduced by Abaco sor’s performance throttled back at high tem-
peratures. For more information contact Abaco
Abaco Systems in Huntsville, Ala., is announc- Systems online at www.abaco.com.
ing that the company’s SOSA-aligned rugged
3U VPX SBC3511 single-board computer is

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ADVERTISERS INDEX SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES
Phone: 1-877-382-9187 / International Callers: +1-847-559-7598
ADVERTISER PAGE E-mail: [email protected]
Airborn Inc............................................................................................... 19 Web: www.mae-subscribe.com
Applied Avionics, Inc................................................................................ 7
Broadcom Corp........................................................................................C3 VICE PRESIDENT/GROUP PUBLISHER Paul Andrews
Crane Aerospace & Electronics.............................................................. 1 203 423-3963 ⁄ [email protected]
Dawn VME Products............................................................................... 11 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF John Keller
Discovery Semiconductors Inc............................................................. 29 603 891-9117 ⁄ [email protected]
Elma Electronic Inc................................................................................. 13 ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jamie Whitney
Extreme Engineering Solutions............................................................C4 603 891-9135 ⁄ [email protected]
General Micro Systems Inc..................................................................... 3 CONTRIBUTING EDITOR WESTERN BUREAU J. R. Wilson
Guntermann & Drunck GmbH............................................................ 25 702 434-3903 ⁄ [email protected]
Holt Integrated Circuits......................................................................... 27 EDITORIAL ART DIRECTOR Kermit Mulkins
Huber+Suhner AG................................................................................... 23 PRODUCTION MANAGER Sheila Ward
L-Com........................................................................................................ 15 AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Debbie Bouley
Pasternack Enterprises............................................................................ 9 603 891-9372 ⁄ [email protected]
Pentek........................................................................................................C2 MARKETING MANAGER Adrienne Adler
Phoenix International............................................................................ 39 603 891-9420 ⁄ [email protected]
Pico Electronics Inc................................................................................. 21
Pixus Technologies................................................................................. 17 www.endeavorbusinessmedia.com
Radiall AEP Inc........................................................................................ 27
RGB Spectrum.......................................................................................... 38 EDITORIAL OFFICES
Systel Inc..................................................................................................... 5 Endeavor Business Media, LLC
Military & Aerospace Electronics
AS 9100D / ISO 9001:2015 CERTIFIED 61 Spit Brook Road, Suite 501, Nashua, NH 03060
603 891-0123 ⁄ www.milaero.com
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CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER Eric Kammerzelt
EVP, TECHNOLOGY GROUP Lester Craft

MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS  OCTOBER 2020  39

new products

RF AND MICROWAVE 4.4 millimeters high when mounted, the HI-25850 Group (PCI SIG) specification. PCI-SIG is an indus-
dual-transceiver MIL-STD-1553 device has a low try consortium community responsible for devel-
Hybrid coupler line for wideband height and footprint and is suitable for applications oping and maintaining a standardized approach
applications to 40 MHz using cards with component height restrictions, to peripheral component I/O data transfers. The
introduced by Pasternack such as PCI Mezzanine Cards (PMC) and Switched PCI125 provides x16 expansion via two OCuLink
Mezzanine Cards (XMC). Digital I/O enables users connectors on the front panel. The PCI124 has the
Pasternack, an Infinite Electronics brand in Irvine, to interface the with a broad range of field-program- dual OCuLink to the rear, making it suitable for addi-
Calif., is introducing 21 new models in a hybrid mable gate arrays (FPGAs) and avoid using level tional I/O to PCI597, resulting in data rates to and
coupler line for wideband RF and microwave appli- shifters and other additional circuitry. This device from field-programmable gate array (FPGA) as fast
cations. These RF and microwave couplers offer provides bus tail-off compensation and receiver as 384 gigabits per second. For more information
high-frequency operating range as high as 40 output pulse extension. These MIL-STD-1553 dual contact VadaTech online at www.vadatech.com.
GHz, and feature SMA and 2.92-millimeter con- transceiver devices are available that operate in the
nectors. They are for RF and microwave applica- industrial-temperature range of -40 to 85 degrees POWER ELECTRONICS
tions that require an even split of input and output Celsius, and the military-temperature range of -55
ports with 90-degree or 180-degree phase shifts to 125 C. Samples are available on request. For Wideband high power amplifier
while maintaining high isolation between the more information contact Holt Integrated Circuits for EW applications introduced
ports. These hybrid couplers deliver power han- online at www.holtic.com. by ERZIA Technologies
dling capability to 100 Watts continuous wave,
and provide isolation and insertion loss perfor- EMBEDDED COMPUTING ERZIA Technologies USA in Arlington, Va., is intro-
mance with low return loss. The flat phase balance ducing the model ERZ-HPA-3200-3800-40 com-
performance spans across the frequency range. PCI Express modules that meet pact, wideband high power amplifier (WHPA)
Pasternack’s high-performance hybrid couplers for PCI-SIG open-systems standards that provides consistent-output power across
wideband applications are in-stock and available introduced by VadaTech Ka-band communications channels. The ERZ-
for immediate shipping. For more information con- HPA-3200-3800-40 operates in the Ka band from
tact Pasternack online at www.pasternack.com. VadaTech Inc. in Henderson, Nev., is introducing 32 to 38 GHz. In addition to 40 dBm of power, this
the PCI124 and PCI125 4th generation PCI Express microwave amplifier also has 49 dB of gain. It is
AVIONICS expansion modules for aerospace and defense qualified under MIL-STD-810F standards against
applications. Both embedded computing mod- the effects of temperature, shock, vibration, and
Rugged MIL-STD-1553 dual ules include a retimer/conditioner to improve sig- acceleration. The small size and modularity of
transceiver for avionics nal integrity for enhanced system performance the amplifier supports the rapid development of
applications introduced by Holt and reliability across long cables. This removes microwave systems for electronic warfare (EW),
both random and deterministic jitter from the input avionics, ground radar, satellite communica-
Holt Integrated Circuits in Mission Viejo, Calif., is signals, eliminating inter-symbol interference and tions (SATCOM), 5G telecommunications, and
introducing the HI-25850 3.3-volt MIL-STD-1553 resetting the output jitter budget. This condition- test equipment operating at Ka-band frequen-
dual transceiver with integrated transformers for ing supports 16 lanes. These embedded comput- cies. These RF and microwave devices can oper-
military and commercial avionics applications. The ing modules are based on the PCI Special Interest ate in harsh environments while holding output
device combines Holt’s HI-15850 MIL-STD-1553 power in place. ERZIA developed these solutions in
transceiver integrated circuit (IC) with the necessary response to EW designers who are frustrated over
isolation transformers in one package. The HI-15850 power variances in critical wideband applications.
is identical to Holt’s HI-1585, with the added feature For more information contact ERZIA Technologies
of 1.8-volt, 2.5-volt, and 3.3-volt-compatible digital USA online at www.erzia.com. 
I/O. Smaller than 15 by 15 millimeters in area and

40  O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0  MILITARY & AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS www.militaryaerospace.com

Broadcom High Reliability
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and operate in temperatures ranging from -55 to +125°C.
Broadcom offers a wide range of digital, IPM interface, high
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For more information visit broadcom.com/hermetics

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