Low-Cost Multi-Function Radar System for Attritable Airborne Platforms

Cutting-edge multifunction radar systems provide a variety of capabilities beneficial to the missions and applications of the warfighter.  Small, attritable airborne platforms, such as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and guided munitions, can benefit greatly from the capabilities of multifunction radar.  The development and per-system costs of these high-performance radar systems is currently high, and prevents them from being used on attritable platforms.Recent developments in lower-cost software-defined RF systems and the availability of lower-cost parts for constructing Ku-band AESA antennas bring the potential for development of low-cost, high-performance multi-function radar systems within reach. This Direct-to-phase-2 (D2P2) project will design and model, to a Critical Design Review (CDR) level of maturity, a complete multi-function radar system that meets the cost and production goals of the Air Force.The opportunity is for ARTEMIS, Inc. to bring our decades of experience in small-SWaP radar design and manufacture to bear on this problem.  Our extensive experience in small-SWaP, real-time processing, and implementation of multi-function, small-SWaP, software-defined RF capabilities (with multiple radar and passive RF modes) in our high-performance radar systems makes ARTEMIS uniquely suited to successfully complete the required research and development.  The goal is to create an attritable multi-function, software-defined radar system at a per-unit price point of $50k (threshold) or $30k (objective) with a form factor that fits the radar and AESA antenna within a 6-inch diameter tube.Our Phase-I-type efforts (for non-SBIR/STTR work) are detailed in the Feasibility Documentation that is part of Volume 5.  This work includes decades of experience in system design, modeling, hardware design, manufacture, integration, and flight testing of small-SWaP, software-defined, multi-function radar systems along with the associated real-time processing on multiple aircraft, including small UAS. The proposed D2P2 effort is detailed in the following sections.  We aim to meet or exceed the RF performance metrics of contemporary, similarly-sized multifunction radar systems.  Following the D2P2 effort, we will manufacture prototype systems for integration and flight testing with an aim to spin up our production capabilities to meet the quantity and production schedule desired by the Air Force. Additional transitions are likely with the other military branches due to the high value technology that is the end result of this SBIR project.