Multi-Material Additive Manufacturing for Smart and Light-Weight Airborne Radar and EW Systems

Purpose and goal

This project aims to demonstrate an innovative approach to designing and manufacturing lightweight sensors for small airborne platforms, capable of generating high-efficiency microwave signals. The increasing need for higher output power in military surveillance radars is driven by the emergence of smaller, faster-moving threats. However, improved output power leads to high power dissipation, requiring advanced thermal management solutions.

Expected effects and result

The proposed solution leverages advanced multi-material additive manufacturing (AM) techniques, enabling the integration of structural, thermal, and microwave functions into a single, coherent component. Multi-material AM facilitates the selection of optimal materials for thermal management, while enabling the use of low-loss dielectric materials for high-performance microwave designs, effectively addressing both thermal and electromagnetic eligibility requirements.

Planned approach and implementation

This project will design, fabricate and characterize a TRL4 demonstrator consisting of combined microwave and thermal functional parts in a single component using novel multi-material AM integrated with a high-power GaN MMIC. This method provides a significant reduction in size and weight compared to traditional solutions that combine multiple separate components.