European microwave tubes: Business and technology

This paper will present a brief historical overview of the European microwave tube market as an introduction to present-day and near-term market tendencies. This introduction serves as a background for understanding the driving forces for technological development. Examples will be given, including that of scientific applications such as controlled thermonuclear fusion research and particle physics, which have led to the achievement of previously unobtainable performance for classical tube types. The paper will then discuss the evolution of the technology employed for several demanding applications, up to the state of the art realizations: airborne radar, satellite TWT´s, earth stations, direct broadcast television, etc.