Affordable phased array for ship self-defense engagement radar

An affordable phased array approach for a ship self defense experimental engagement radar is described. The array uses a hybrid approach by combining a slotted waveguide array with phase shifters to scan the beam in the azimuth plane and a radant lens placed in front of the slotted array to scan the beam in the elevation plane. The proposed approach avoids using a phase shifter or a T/R module behind each radiating element and simplifies beam steering using row-column controls which reduces the phased array cost. The production cost of the proposed array is estimated to be less than 1/3 the cost of a similar sized array using a phase shifter or T/R module behind each radiating element.