US Army Signs Contract with Lockheed Martin for GaN-Based Q-53 Radar System

Foreign media reported that the U.S. Army recently signed three contracts with Maryland-based arms contractor Lockheed Martin to produce more Q-53 systems and equip the radar with enhanced capabilities, including extended range and counter-unmanned aerial system (CUAS) surveillance. The flexible architecture of the Army's most modern radar allows these upgrades, supporting the adaptive growth of the system to counter future aircraft, drones and other threats.

The Q-53 has been in use around the world since 2010, with its primary mission being to protect combat troops by detecting, classifying, tracking and identifying the location of enemy indirect fire in a 90 or 360 degree pattern.

“The force needs a completely new reconnaissance capability. The Q-53 counters threats with current and emerging technologies,” said Rick Herodes, Q-53 program director at Lockheed Martin. “The flexibility of the architecture continues to enable the Q-53 to provide capabilities far beyond its original mission and allow for additional upgrades in the future,” he added.

Full-Rate Production – The Army awarded Lockheed Martin a contract for the third batch of 15 full-rate production systems. Once the contract is awarded, the Army will have 189 Q-53 systems in its inventory. Lot 3 systems will continue to be produced using Gallium Nitride (GaN) transmit-receive modules, providing the radar with additional power, reliability and the possibility of enhanced capabilities, including extended range, counterfire target acquisition (CTA) and multi-mission, providing simultaneous CTA and air surveillance.

Surveillance – Lockheed Martin was also awarded a contract to enhance the Q-53 CUAS capabilities. This true multi-mission capability enables simultaneous counterfire, CUAS and air surveillance.

Extended Range - Lockheed Martin has also been awarded a contract by the Army that will extend the operational range of the Q-53 system using the radar’s existing next-generation technology plug-in.

Lockheed Martin uses an open GaN foundry model, leveraging relationships with commercial suppliers to deliver military-grade GaN modules using the broad communications technology strength and optimizing cost-effectiveness.

Compound semiconductors are increasingly used in the military

With the increasing demand for science and technology, the shortcomings of silicon's slow transmission speed and single function have been exposed, so compound semiconductor materials came into being. In the 1990s, riding on the wave of mobile communications and fiber-optic communications, the second-generation semiconductor materials represented by gallium arsenide gradually came onto the stage.

Gallium arsenide (GaAs)-the second-generation semiconductor material

Gallium arsenide (GaAs) has some better electronic properties than Si, can be used in places above 250GHz, and GaAs is more suitable for operation in high-power places than the same Si components. Therefore, GaAs can be used in mobile phones, satellite communications, microwave point-to-point connections, radar systems, etc.

GaAs has become a necessity for ultra-high-speed, ultra-high-frequency devices and integrated circuits, and is widely used in the military field. It is an important material for laser-guided radar. It has been very powerful in the Gulf War and won the reputation of "gallium arsenide defeats steel".

Gallium nitride (GaN)-the third-generation semiconductor material

GaN is a semiconductor with a large bandgap width and a high operating temperature. It is an excellent material for microwave power transistors. GaN crystals are generally hexagonal wurtzite structures, and the atomic volume is about half that of GaAs.

The main reason for GaN's popularity is that it is wide bandgap. Compared with silicon or other trivalent and pentavalent devices, gallium nitride is faster and has a higher breakdown voltage. The use of GaN can place electronic devices closer to the antenna, making them more powerful, lightweight and miniaturized.

GaN application projects

GaN's application projects include the "Next Generation Jammer", three-coordinate mobile long-range radar (3DLRR), "Space Fence" system, long-range identification radar, and improvements to the "Patriot" missile.
Raytheon

uses GaN technology, and the chip can be reduced to 1 to 2 microns. The company can manufacture more small power amplifiers or generate different architectures.

GaN's high power improves the jamming capability, and a smaller aperture can form the same range and search range as a larger aperture without GaN.

After winning the 3DLRR contract, Raytheon also expects to rely on GaN technology to upgrade its "Patriot" missile defense system. Raytheon is producing a full-scale prototype using GaN technology to provide 360° coverage for AESA radars.

Qorvo

Qorvo has developed 125 new GaN products in 18 months. For example, QGaN15 works well at high frequencies, providing 4.5 watts of power per millimeter at 30GHz. QGan50 focuses on high stability at low frequencies, with an average failure-free time of more than 1 million hours.

GaN technology can also operate at higher temperatures, up to 200°C, and has low requirements for cooling.

In order to increase power, Qorvo and other GaN manufacturers are exploring making it on diamond instead of traditional silicon carbide. This will significantly reduce the size, and the size of a power amplifier will be only 1/40 of the current size.

Wireless infrastructure accounts for the largest share of the communications market, and the biggest gains in this area come from devices below 3 watts and below 3GHz, where GaN will compete with existing mature technologies. "There are some very competitive challenges."
Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin began developing GaN in the mid-1990s. "From the perspective of military products, GaN has indeed become an indispensable technology, otherwise it will not be competitive in the current market."

"In the United States, the F-22, F-35 and bombers are equipped with AESA radars, but they use gallium arsenide chips. The armies of other countries are upgrading to AESA radars and GaN chips at the same time. The United States is now turning to GaN."

Given the flexibility of AESA antennas, they can be used for communications and electronic warfare. The combination of GaN and AESA radars provides a good opportunity to improve handheld communication equipment, radios or shipborne radars.

Lockheed Martin uses GaN in electronic warfare products to provide wide-bandwidth high power. However, although GaN technology may be relatively mature, other components in the system still need time to develop.

Future Development Opportunities

The global output value of GaN microwave communication devices and power electronic devices is still low, only a few hundred million US dollars. With the advancement of technology, the output value is expected to reach 1.5 billion US dollars in 2020. Infineon, Fuji, Toshiba, Panasonic and other large companies have invested heavily in the GaN field.

There are also many new small companies, such as GaN Systems in Canada and EPC in the United States, which have already mass-produced GaN products. In the future, it will be widely used in new energy, smart grid, information and communication equipment and consumer electronics.

China started late in the development of tertiary semiconductor materials, and its technology level is relatively low compared with that of foreign countries. Key application areas and domestic substitution needs provide a huge market and opportunities for overtaking in the corner for industrial development.