12 kW S-band solid state transmitter for modern radar systems

Abstract

Presents the development of a 12-kW solid-state transmitter, operating over 2.7-2.9 GHz, for use in modern surveillance and air-traffic control radars. 12 kW of peak power with a pulse width of 100 mu s and a duty cycle of 10% is achieved by combining 56 300-W high-power solid-state amplifiers. Other key performance parameters are pulse-to-pulse stability (moving-target-indication improvement factor >90 dBc), MTBF (mean time between failures) >22000 h, instantaneous bandwidth of 200 MHz, extremely high pulse fidelity, and self-pulsing low-voltage operation for high efficiency. >