Wideband Sub-Array Digital Receiver Exciter (DREX)

Next-generation ground-based BMD radar is anticipated to employ a scalable architecture with multiple low-cost transportable arrays employing hundreds of thousands of elements per array. Low-cost analog array panels are to be employed in the array, and will typically contain a digital receiver/exciter (DREX) behind a subarray group of typically 64 or 256 elements. The combination of element-level analog beam steering and subarray digital beamforming allows for multiple simultaneous receive beams which are digitally controlled. A wideband DREX increases target discrimination capability, along with a great degree of flexibility in the waveform control and anti-jam capability. Applied Radar is developing a DREX solution to meet the needs of next-generation BMD radar under a spiral development process. This DREX interfaces with the MIT/LL Radar Open Systems Architecture (ROSA) for beam-steering and waveform control as well as back-end radar processing. This proposed Phase 2 effort improves upon the current VME-based DREX hardware, and includes demonstrations with available array hardware. Additionally, further effort will be made towards integrating the DREX with the array hardware. Emerging chip-level transceiver technologies are to be investigated towards the goals of reducing DREX size, weight and cost. We also look at the possibility from the DREX perspective of separating the transmit and receive functions of the radar into physically separate arrays, as well as cohering multiple arrays.