T/R modules for airborne radar: the challenges ahead

European ESCAN airborne radar has now reached a stage of maturity which has realised significant performance improvements with high reliability and affordable costs. T/R modules, as a key element of these ESCAN radars, have also firmly evolved out of the development laboratory and initial production stage into radar production. Achievement of adequate technical performance for T/R modules is now assumed as given, as the focus now shifts to the need to achieve lower cost, weight, repeatability and reliability in volume manufacture. This paper discusses methods of realisation of these key drivers - drivers that enable successful transfer to large scale production (> 100,000 modules/year) in the medium term.