AACER System Would Detect Ground Targets While Passing Data About Them

Raytheon Co, EL SEGUNDO: Development of an airborne radar that can search broadly for ground targets while transmitting data about them at Ka-band is the objective of the Affordable Adaptive Conformal ESA Radar (AACER) program awarded to Raytheon Company by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).  
 
Raytheon was selected to proceed with Phase II of a planned three-phase, four-year program after a competitive down-select at the end of Phase I with Northrop-Grumman Electronic Systems. The AACER system is a DARPA funded program being administered by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory in Adelphi, Md.  
 
“This is truly a multi-functional and multi-frequency system,” Nick Uros, vice president for the Advanced Concepts and Technology unit of the company's Space and Airborne Systems business, said. “It'll scan electronically. No mechanical parts are involved. Therefore, it'll operate at the speed of light.”  
 
Intended for use on rotary unmanned aerial vehicles in development by DARPA and the Army, the AACER system will feature ground moving target detection and track, dismount detection, synthetic aperture radar imaging, and high data-rate communications capability at Ka-band. The technology for electronic processing combines elements of Raytheon's APG-79 electronically scanned array radar for the F/A-18 and seeker technology from the company's Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile with innovative new low-cost millimeter-wave hardware designs.  
 
AACER is based on the design and experience gained on DARPA's A-160 Ka-band Radar Flight Demonstration and Ka-band Electronically Scanned Array programs, the Air Force Research Laboratory's Varactor CTS ESA DUST program, and a significant investment by Raytheon during the past 10 years.  
 
Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) is the leading provider of sensor systems giving warfighters the most accurate and timely information available for the network-centric battlefield. With 2004 revenues of $4 billion and 13,000 employees, SAS is headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., with additional facilities in Goleta, Calif.; Forest, Miss.; Dallas, McKinney and Plano, Texas; and several international locations.  
 
Raytheon Company, with 2004 sales of $20.2 billion, is an industry leader in defense and government electronics, space, information technology, technical services and special-mission aircraft. Headquartered in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 80,000 people worldwide.