If you weren't aware building a successful radar is a complex task requiring lots of skills and experience. Just because your radar has GaN T/R modules doesn't make it automatically better than one fitted with GaAs. If you T/R module design is poor or your back end processing weak you will still have a bad radar.NickC wrote: ↑01 Jul 2022, 17:44
My understanding all the new Western AESA main naval radars use gallium nitride semiconductors, GaN, in their transmit/receive modules from the Thales NS110 for the T31 to the proposed MoD Lockheed Martin radar for UK BMD system.
GaN give approx five times the RF transmit output power as they are capable of withstanding much greater heat dissipation and operate over a larger waveband compared to the previous gen gallium arsenide, GaAs, used in the T/RMs of Artisan (the radar SNR of the TR module involves minimizing the noise figure of the receiver and maximizing the output power of the transmitter).
PS One consequence of GaN due to its high power is the much higher cooling capacity required.
Having said that I do wish that BAE and RN/MOD would invest more in Naval radar technology. Maybe the split of UK radar development between BAE (Land and Naval) and Leonardo (Air) wasn't such a good idea. (I assume there is a small team at Thales supporting Searchwater too.)
As with most of your post this one seems like another RN/British technology bashing exercise