Versatile RADAR Antennas

Since its invention in the 1940s RADAR technology has progressed immensely. Today, RADAR systems are critical for defense and commercial applications. Within the last 10 years, new applications for RADAR technology have emerged for needs such as perimeter surveillance, UAS surveillance, hypersonic threat tracking, autonomous vehicles, anti-jam & new threat simulators. RADAR technology is evolving to meet these needs. ARA has been working with a variety of customers to develop technology that is helping address the RADAR markets unique needs.

For over 40 years, Antenna Research Associates has been providing critical systems and subsystems for the RADAR market. ARA has unique experience with designing and manufacturing RADAR antenna systems and subsystems for a wide range of frequencies from UHF to K band. These systems are designed to meet the stringent performance requirements of the DoD market customers.

In addition to the traditional parabolic RADAR antennas, ARA has also started providing high-gain Passive Electronic Scan Array antennas that utilize a new true-time delay beamforming technique that allows for wide scan limits. While ESA antennas have been around for quite some time, the high-cost nature of these systems has restricted the availability to certain user groups such as test ranges and threat emitter systems. ARA’s new PESA antenna is a compelling new product for such markets. These PESA products are a great improvement in comparison to using Parabolic radars and they provide significant improvement in track speed without the high cost and SWAP associated with full Active Electronic Scan Array antennas.  In addition, ARA has created a hybrid high-power PESA system including a network of lenses, power dividers, and phase shifters to create systems that meet stringent requirements.  These types of systems can be utilized in the threat simulation market.