Phased-array radars have seen ever increasingly wider use around the world over the last five decades. In recent years, they have seen breakthroughs that led to capabilities not possible in the past. This is exemplified by the development of GaAs integrated microwave circuits called monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMIC) that make it possible to build active electronically scanned arrays (AESA) that have lighter weight, smaller volume, higher reliability and lower cost. These developments have reached the point where it is now possible to build a low-cost 35 GHz phased array for a missile seeker costing $30/element (total cost of array including all electronics divided by the number of elements).
展开▼
