Agility to innovate, Strength to deliver

Phased ARRAYS

Ball Aerospace supports critical missions of national agencies such as the Department of Defense, NASA, NOAA, and other U.S. Government and commercial entities. Ball is a leader in the transition of operational systems from traditional dish antennas to more flexible phased arrays.

11/14 D1790Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. • 1600 Commerce St. • Boulder, CO 80301 • 303-939-6100 • Fax: 303-939-6104

info@ball.com • www.ballaerospace.com

Integrated Correlation and Display System (ICADS)/Ground NDS Terminal (GNT)Ball was selected as the prime contractor by Sandia National Laboratories to develop and build the upgraded phased array antenna system for ICADS and GNT. The antenna system is part of the nation’s Treaty Monitoring system to detect, locate, and characterize nuclear events worldwide and in space. The ICADS will relay multiple satellite signals to ground-based command and control sites. The Ball antenna system will also be used on the GNT transportable version of the system.

Ball leverages previous antenna programs for Sandia National Laboratories including the Global Antenna System and the existing GNT system built by Ball in the 1980s. Our improvments include:

• Amoreflexible,modulardesignthatenhances manufacturing efficiency

• Simplifiedoverallmaintenance• Improvedperformanceandfunctionality

Geodesic Dome Phased Array Antenna (GDPAA)Ball conducted a successful Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) that served as a research and development vehicle for validating the GDPAA concept. GDPAA was jointly conducted by the Air Force’s Research Laboratory and the Space & Missile Center.

The GDPAA-ATD is part of a multi-phase activity toexplorethebenefitsofincorporatingphasedarray antenna technology into the Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN).

Ball’sGDPAAendeavorprovidedsignificantimprovement in capacity, throughput, responsiveness, availability, and flexibility over current conventional parabolic reflector antennas used in support of satellite tracking, telemetry and command operations.

Phased ArraysPhased arrays allow the user to electrically steer multiple transmit and receive beams without physically moving the antenna array. Ball ‘s approach to phased array design adds operational capability and produces cost effective, reliable alternatives to traditional dishes.

Mobile Multifunction Low-Cost Antenna (MMLCA)Ball, under a FORCEnet Future Naval capabilities program, initially developed and successfully demonstrated a gimbaled X-Band SATCOM-on-the-Move (SOTM) phased array. Ball Aerospace has since developed a true phase array (no moving parts) terminal which has been jointly demonstrated by the Navy and Army. Currently, the MMLCA system is in the process of participating in a service technology transition program. MMLCA is compatible with military and commercial satellite systems, Wide-band Global Satellite (WGS) or XTAR respectively.

Ball MMLCA technology provides high-data-rate SOTM and a scaled version provides low-data-rate blue force tracking. The MMLCA can have multiple functions added to the antenna suite, providing savings in overall footprint and integration costs. These functions include UHF line-of-sight (LOS) and/or UHF SATCOM, GPS, Enhanced Position Location Reporting System (EPLRS), and Wideband Networking Waveform (WNW) capability.

Affordable Common Radar Architecture (ACRA)The Ball ACRA design, an affordable, scalable naval surveillance radar system based on common architecture and technologies, will provide improved littoral and Electronic Counter Countermeasure surveillanceperformanceforbothrotatingandfixed-faced applications.

The ACRA radar system is based on a small liquid-cooled Transmit (Tx) active electronically scanned antenna array transmitting a vertical fan beam, with a larger air-cooled Receive (Rx) active electronically scanned antenna array producing multiple high gain pencil beams, to perform volume surveillance. The ACRA Receive antenna arrays are formed using modular planar tiles as the building block for the antenna array—antenna size and radar sensitivity are determined by the number of tiles used. The modular planar tiles have been developed to be easily replaceable and are environmentally ruggedized while using commercial off the shelf microwave components for low cost. The open architecture ACRA independent transmit and receive apertures optimizes system cost and allows independent Tx/Rx upgrades over time.

S-BandBall was awarded an Office of Naval Research contract for a low-observable, multibeam, S-Band phased array antenna demonstration. This antenna supports multiple applications and provides the U.S. Navy with new capabilities while dramatically reducing the maintenance and support required of traditional antennas. The program was executed in 20 months from start of design to delivery of hardware. The hardware was extensively tested and certifiedforoperationonanAegisCruiserincludingcertificationforoperationwiththeAegisWeaponsControl System, testing was done during Missile Defense Agency/Navy Flight Missions 5 and 6. The array was on the U.S.S. Lake Erie for more than 25 months.

AIRLINK®AIRLINK® is an airborne antenna system designed to provide inflight telephone, fax, and data transmission. Using the International Maritime Satellite (INMARSAT) Organization system of geostationary satellites, AIRLINK® relays information anywhere around the world. Low-gain and high-gain systems are available depending on datarate requirements. U.S. Government customers now use Ball’s AIRLINK® high-gain aeronautical system for reliable, secure, high-speed data and near-toll quality digitized voice communications. The AIRLINK® high-gain antenna system is installed on numerous aircraft types to automatically acquire and track satellites for continuous, reliable communications.

Zumwalt DDG-1000Ball was selected as the Phase IV contractor on the DDG-1000 program in support of the Multi-Function Mast (MFM) antenna system and the UHF SATCOM Phased Array aperture. Both systems will be mounted on the Integrated Deck House Assembly (IDHA) and provide vital communication links for these innovative ships.

Ball’s MFM antenna is a mature technological approach to a broadband survivable hybrid military antenna system. The DDG-1000 MFM is a suite of antennas that provides traditional VHF, UHF, and L-Band LOS communications. The UHF SATCOM phased array design incorporates low observable technology with active electronics including Tx/Rx modules, multi-beam steering electronics, power supplies, and controller electronics integrated into the deckhouse structure.

AIRLINK®wasrecentlycertifiedforINMARSAT“SwiftBroadband” operation.