Light-Weight, Low-Cost Surveillance Electronic Scan Antenna

Radar antennas with large apertures for surveillance and tracking are highly desirable to be electronic scanning, but require a large number of elements. Despite hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in phase shifters, MMIC and other devices, these remain unaffordable in any but the most expensive military system (B1, B2, Patriot and Aegis). Clearly an entirely new approach is required. Malibu Research believes we have such an approach, based on the merging of two proven technologies; our FLAPS EM phased-surface technique and high resolution plasma displays. A principal product of ours for microwave/millimeter wave antennas is the FLAPS phased-surface. It uitlizes arrays of varying length dipoles to control beam shape and direction. By dynamic variation of the dipole pattern electronic beam scanning will result. The specific means of accomplishing this is by a programmable plasma-display -- similar in nature to plasma-display televsion and laptop computers. The concept and preliminary paratmeters for this are given in our proposal. The key points are as follows: (a) The proposed technique is a merger of two advanced but proven technologies. (b) The plasma-display elements are highly RF conductive ionized gases. (c) The resolution, speed and huge number of computer updatable display elements yields a highly dynamic, large RF size electronic antenna with multi-band capability. The proposal effort, including a demonstration, is directed at surveillance antenna application of plasma-display manufacturing technology.