Optical Processing of MMW for Agile Beamsteering and Beamforming

摘要

There is little doubt than an electronically steered, stationary scanning antennaoffers significant advantages over any gimbaled installation, especially for tactical missile seekers. A scanning phased array antenna reduces the demands on space and power and makes better use of the space available. It is widely believed that the millimeter wave (MMW) band (W-band) is the region of the RF spectrum which provides the best angular resolution. In fact, MMW sensor and seeker technologies have made significant advances in recent years, demonstrating their suitability for autonomous adverse weather, battlefield, and smart munition applications. Moreover, only the use of the W-band can produce an active seeker with imaging capability for on-board target identification.