Raytheon to Build a Revolutionary Radar Antenna

Released on Tuesday, January 25, 2005

The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has exercised an option allowing Raytheon to proceed with its X-band Thin Radar Aperture (XTRA) production for use on the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) as its primary application.

The AFRL exercised the option following the proof of concept phase of the contract that was issued in April 2004. The design of the XTRA antenna meets the requirements of performance, size, weight and affordability by using a revolutionary array technology. It will be used onboard smaller and lighter manned and unmanned aircraft providing advanced sensors capability. The initial funding for the effort is $4 million.