t he

monitor
news

ONR TAPS BAE SYSTEMS FOR ULTRA WIDEBAND STARING RECEIVER

science and technology investments
in a number of areas including antennas, wideband photonic and spectral
holographic processing, miniature
broadband filters, multi-configurable
filters and wideband gallium nitride
(GaN) receiver components.
As the prime contractor, BAE Systems will be responsible for providing
EW system domain expertise, threat
characterization and identification
processing, and system design and
integration knowledge. According
to Steve Hedges, BAE Systems FSSR
Principal Investigator, the program
integrates a complementary array of
innovative technologies to deliver
what is essentially an extremelyhigh-speed (near-instantaneous) spectrum analyzer capable of finding new
energy over broad bandwidths, and
at different resolution bandwidths,
with 100% probability of intercept.
As a staring receiver, as opposed to
a scanning system, its not just scanning a small segment of frequencies at
a time, its looking at all frequencies
instantaneously.
The system is intended to cover the
spectrum from 500 MHz to 110 GHz,
providing instantaneous bandwidth
coverage over 10s of GHz at a time, with
multiple bandwidths able to be linked
together to instantaneously cover even
larger spectrum swaths. Hedges acknowledges that one of the principle
technical challenges associated with
the program will be achieving very
high sensitivity over such a broad band
of instantaneous coverage.
At the heart of the FSSR is an RF
Photonic Spatial Spectral Processor
developed with ONR funding by S2
Corporation (Bozeman, Montana) in
collaboration with Montana State University. Other innovative technologies

developed under the program include

broadband antenna work by the University of Colorado (Boulder); tunable
RF notch filters at Purdue University
with support from the Naval Research
Laboratory (NRL); and low noise amplifiers by HRL Laboratories (Malibu, CA).
According to Hedges, the system
is not envisioned for use on any particular platform or platform type, but
rather to meet a critical need for full
spectrum awareness, for both Navy
ships and aircraft. Its applicable
to any platform that has the size,
weight, power and cost constraints
that can accommodate it.
FSSR is a three-year program with
demonstrations planned for each
year. ONRs Binder says, The FSSR
demonstration system will highlight
its frequency coverage, sensitivity,
direction-finding accuracy and rapid-reporting times. The FSSR system
provides 100% probability of intercept across the entire microwave and
millimeter-wave bands, even in cases
where the signals of interest are short
pulse/low duty-cycle or exhibit complex modulations, and even in dense
electromagnetic spectrum environments or in the presence of strong
interferers. The demonstrations will
include laboratory testing in anechoic
chambers, as well as field demonstrations, says Hedges. Well be subjecting the system to fairly dense
electromagnetic environments to
show the collection capacity and sensitivity of the system. By subjecting
the receiver to such realistic, complex
environments, we can demonstrate
how these discrete innovations combine to enable an effective EW system
capability. The first demonstration
is planned to take place in the fall of
this year. J. Haystead

The Journal of Electronic Defense | April 2016

The Office of Naval Research (ONR)

has awarded BAE Systems (Nashua,
NH) an $11 million contract to lead
a team in the development of a nextgeneration RF-threat detection system intended to provide dramatic
improvements in coverage and responsiveness over conventional threat
warning systems. The Full-Spectrum
Staring Receiver (FSSR) will enable
near-instantaneous battlespace situational awareness, emitter tracking,
threat warning, and countermeasure
cueing capability.
As described by Dr. Brad Binder, EW
Program Manager at the Office of Naval
Research (ONR) Electronics, Sensors and
Network Research Division, The rapid
and broadband spectral monitoring capabilities of FSSR make it suitable for
a variety of applications including ESM,
SIGINT, threat warning and dynamic
spectrum allocation for cognitive radio communications. The system will
provide operational utility to a wide
variety of platforms, including surface
ships, submarines, aircraft and groundbased surveillance platforms.
With funding dating back to 2008,
the FSSR effort is part of ONRs Electronic Warfare Discovery & Invention
Program, which seeks to develop and
demonstrate a broad range of nextgeneration EW systems that exploit,
deceive or deny enemy use of the electromagnetic spectrum while ensuring
their unfettered use by friendly forces. The program is leveraging ONR

15

Copyright of Journal of Electronic Defense is the property of Association of Old Crows and
its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the
copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email
articles for individual use.