Summary
The effectiveness of combat operations across all domains increasingly depends on our ability to control and exploit the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum and to deny its use to our adversaries. Below 30 GHz, the proliferation of inexpensive high-power commercial radio frequency (RF) sources has made the EM spectrum crowded and contested, challenging our spectrum dominance.
The numerous tactical advantages offered by operating at higher frequencies, most notably the wide bandwidths available, is driving both commercial and DoD solid-state and vacuum electronic amplifiers into the millimeter wave (mm-wave) spectrum above 30 GHz. Control of the mm-wave spectrum requires advanced and ever more sophisticated electronic components and systems. The performance of these systems strongly depends on the available amplifier power.
The High power Amplifier using Vacuum electronics for Overmatch Capability (HAVOC) program seeks to develop mm-wave vacuum electronic amplifiers for air, ground, and ship-based EM systems.
HAVOC amplifiers would enable these systems to access the high-frequency millimeter-wave portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, facilitating increased range and other performance improvements such as high data-rate communications and high-resolution sensing. Additionally, in the future the HAVOC program plans to support basic research to improve the fundamental understanding of the various phenomena governing the science and technology that will underlie the next generation of mm-wave vacuum electronic amplifiers.
This program is now complete
This content is available for reference purposes. This page is no longer maintained.