Photonis doubles power output of its MPM family
Photonis Power and Microwave has revealed plans to more than double the power output of its family of Microwave Power Modules (MPM) as it seeks to further enhance the size, weight and power (SWaP) capabilities of airborne and maritime Electronic Warfare (EW) solutions.
Speaking to MONS at the EW Europe event in London on 8 June 2017, Photonis Power and Microwave Sales Manager, Kevin Daniels, explained how the company was, “on the verge of commercialising,” several solutions by the end of the year.
MPMs are used to, “meet the power, bandwidth and spectral purity requirements of many state of the art microwave systems,” including the amplification of electronic countermeasures on board airborne platforms and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).
The MPMs comprise a low noise amplifier with solid-state driver and multi-collector traveling wave tube with integrated power supply, which typically provide around 100W in output. However, Daniels explained how the company had developed 200W solutions with a Low Band (2-8GHz) option already available to armed forces and a High Band (6-18GHz) variant expected to be ready by the end of 2017.
From band edge to band edge, upgraded MPMs could provide 226W in output with up to 300W achieved at the centre of the band, Daniels claimed. However, he also explained how these upgraded MPMs comprised an additional 25% increase in size and form factor.
Photonis Power and Microwave currently supplies a number of original equipment manufacturers including Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, L3, and BAE Systems, amongst others, Daniels concluded.
Solutions have been integrated on airborne solutions including F-14, -15- 16 and -18 jets; AC-130H and MC-130E air frames; as well as AH-64 APACHE; MH-47E CHINOOK; and MH-60 rotary wing platforms.
Andrew White
