RF- and mm-wave specialist, Filtronic, has been awarded a contract with BAE Systems for the supply of gallium arsenide (GaAs) power amplifier modules that will be used on BAE advanced maritime active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar systems.
The contract, which comes at a value of £4 million, was awarded by BAE Maritime Services. Product qualification began in September 2023, with over 15,000 modules being supplied over 18 months.
The amplifiers will be used onboard the Royal Navy’s Type 45 Destroyers, also known as the D or Daring class. There are currently six of these missile destroyers built for the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy in the early 21st century. The class is primarily designed for anti-aircraft and anti-missile warfare and is built around the Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS), or Sea Viper air defence system.
Filtronic was successful in a collaboration with PRFI — a UK-based technical design consultancy providing services to design and develop monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs). Filtronic was responsible for developing advanced packaging for the MMICs that was optimised both thermally and for radio frequency (RF) performance.
“As you can imagine, the power amplifier modules will be subject to extremely demanding conditions once onboard,” explained Tudor Williams, director of technology at Filtronic. “Because of this, it was important for us to design a package that was highly reliable. Filtronic already supplies advanced microwave filter solutions to BAE Systems for the land-based Commander Radar systems, but we’re excited to showcase our expertise in the maritime sector.”
Projects like this are in line with the UK Government’s strategy to build out the nation’s sovereign capabilities. Thanks to its connections with various associations, such as Make UK and the North East Material Electronics cluster, Filtronic has built an extensive SME network, putting the company in an excellent position to foster a collaborative partnership for this project and many more.
For more information about Filtronic’s capabilities in the defence sector, visit the company’s website or contact a member of the team on +44 (0)1740 618 800.
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