Design of a Phased Array Anienna using Solid State Transmit/Receive Modules

The trade offs and design decisions to implement an active solid state phased array antenna result in a S-Band radar with 2500 T/R modules per face. Each module incorporates a 6 bit phase shifter, a 6 bit attenuator, 10 watt output power in transmit and a noise figure of 3.5 dB in receive. Four T/R modules are integrated together to form a Line Replaceable Unit (LRU) which includes a power supply, control circuits and dipole elements. With a 10 degree temperature gradient across the antenna the calculated module MTBF of 500 khrs easily satisifies the system availability of 99.6%. An overall weight of under 5 tonnes is achieved for a five faced air cooled antenna.