Where next for airborne AESA technology?

Airborne radar has evolved from early systems where almost all radar characteristics were fixed to todaypsilas highly flexible, software-driven systems. The most recent advance has been the widespread adoption of active electronically scanned array (AESA) antennas, which has given the system designer unprecedented control of antenna characteristics. However, in common with most conventional radars, even these systems only operate within a limited frequency band. This paper argues that the next major advance will be the advent of wideband and multi-band systems, thus addressing the major remaining constraint facing the system designer and offering the capability for a step change in the functionality and performance of future systems.