TEWKSBURY, MA -- The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and the Office of the Secretary of Defense have awarded Raytheon Company [NYSE: RTN] a $14.9M contract to further enhance its process for producing gallium nitride-based semiconductors. The new agreement follows a previous GaN Title III contract, completed in 2013, and aims to increase the performance, yield and reliability of Raytheon GaN-based, wideband, monolithic, microwave-integrated circuits and circulator components.
GaN is a semiconductor material that can efficiently amplify high power radio frequency signals at microwave frequencies thereby enhancing a system's range and raid handling, while reducing size, weight, power and cost. It is used in a broad spectrum of military radars and defense systems, including the U.S. Navy's Air and Missile Defense Radar and Next Generation Jammer.
The first demonstrator of this technology will be incorporated into Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems' Next Generation Jammer program, which is scheduled for low-rate initial production in 2018.