CAES Provides Critical Solutions for US Air Force Open Architecture Demonstration

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CAES, a leading provider of mission-critical advanced RF technology, is pleased to announce that its 3U converter was selected for inclusion in the US Air Force’s MIRAGE airborne Electronic Warfare (EW) pod demonstration. The new SOSA-aligned 3U wideband RF converter was recently sent to Georgia Tech Research Institute for integration into the demonstration. The converter leverages the Government-Owned Modular Open System Approach (MOSA) as well as polarization-diverse cross-notch antennas.

“The MIRAGE Pod will provide the USAF a flexible platform to mature and assess, in operationally relevant environments, EW/EMS capabilities aligned to Open Architecture Standards. The ultimate goal is to enable rapid fielding of capabilities to Programs of Record. Initial pod experiments will begin on multiple aircraft starting this summer,” said Jacob Hardegree, Tech Advisor EW and Avionics Division, Agile Combat Support Directorate, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center. “CAES’ 3U wideband converter was selected because it is high performance and SOSA-aligned, allowing for direct integration into the existing USAF ruggedized SOSA chassis. CAES was selected after an analysis of available industry offerings and was determined to have the best solution for the initial MIRAGE experiment.”

CAES’ 3U converter provides two channels of fast tuning and wideband frequency conversion in a single 3U slot. CAES provides the two-channel converter in three configurations: 2 up, 2 down, or 1 up and 1 down.

“We’re honored to be included in the MIRAGE demonstration and provide trusted solutions that help keep warfighters safe,” said David Young, CAES Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. “The converter is designed to address the most challenging RF-band EW applications on airborne, ground vehicle and shipborne platforms. The architecture allows for a low-risk approach to customizing cost, performance and power needs.”

CAES’ corresponding antenna leverages polarized, notch elements and a wideband matching network to span the microwave band with a single antenna solution. It provides signal reception or transmission regardless of polarization. The antenna is equally adept at electronic attack applications and is readily adaptable to a wide range of radomes and mounting configurations. 

Fusing EW products with today’s advanced technology and decades of engineering, production, and sustainment experience, CAES enables customers to fully exploit the electromagnetic spectrum. CAES’ EW capabilities include wideband antennas, power amplifiers, preselectors, RF distribution, frequency converters and more.