Abstract

Work on the development of transmit/receive (T/R) modules for military and commercial active array applications has been going on in the United States since the 1980s. The major goals were reduced cost, increased power, and improved efficiency. Over the last several years, significant progress has been made in these areas. For the first fifteen years, there were at least six companies aggressively pursuing this technology-both on company funds (i.e., profit dollars), and government contracts. Because of the recent mega-mergers that have occurred in the United States aerospace industry, significantly fewer companies and support are being dedicated to this technology. This paper gives a historical account of T/R module development in the U.S. Initially, it was the military applications that drove the technology, but as time progressed, it became the commercial applications with their higher quantities that ultimately resulted in the current lower cost, high performance modules.