Electronic Warfare Test (EWT) Prototype Projects

On 2 September 2022, in accordance with 10 U.S. Code § 4022, the Army Contracting Command – Orlando has awarded an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) via the Training and Readiness Accelerator (TReX) for the Electronic Warfare Test (EWT) Topic: Ka-Band Transmit/Receive Aperture (KaTRA) prototype project.

A Request for White Paper for these efforts was issued through TReX on 17 February 2022, which resulted in the submittal of 1 response. As a result of the competition, the prototype project was awarded to National Security Technology Accelerator Strategic and Spectrum Mission Advanced Managing as the managing prime to Star Dynamics Corporation. located in Hilliard, O.H. The total value of this prototype project, if all milestones and options are exercised, is $5,175,000.00.

The Department of Defense (DoD) Test Resources Management Center (TRMC) Test and Evaluation (T&E)/Science and Technology (S&T) Program desires to invest in innovative technologies that revolutionize or accelerate testing capabilities and development of T&E. The Ka-Band Transmit/Receive Aperture (KaTRA) effort is being established to push the technology beyond its current capabilities so that the next generation of Electronic Warfare (EW) systems will be able to operate more effectively through advancements in the technology.

TRMC’s overarching strategy is to create a new translation technology capability through an iterative technology research and demonstration approach, utilizing Other Transactions (OTs) This prototype project is directly relevant to enhancing the mission effectiveness of the TRMC community. Existing technologies employed in outdoor Radar Cross Section (RCS) measurements in the Ka-band (26.5-40 GHz) do not yield sufficient signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) when tunable transceivers are employed to measure small targets or low-observable (LO) vehicles at ranges of 10-to-20 miles. Typical SNR values achievable with current technologies are on the order of 0 dB or less when measuring targets that exhibit nominal RCS values of -20 dBsm. Current technological limitations in Ka-band typically relate to the atmospheric losses, two-way space losses, and transceiver path losses.

New technology is sought for components or systems that will optimize tunable coherent transceivers covering 34-36 GHz that exhibit SNR of 10 dB or greater when measuring -20 dBsm targets at ranges of 20 miles. The objective coherent transceiver must be capable of duty cycles of 12% or greater, and phase noise of -120 dBc/Hz or less at 10 kHz offset from the center frequency. The objective system will exhibit Effective Radiated Power (ERP) of at least 113 dBm employing an antenna with a beam-width of approximately 0.5 degrees.