Endwave bags $0.5 million defense deal
Twenty-year-old NATO aircraft are to have their defense systems back-fitted with GaAs-based low power amplifiers in a program that will help to extend the service life of the fleet.
US-based Endwave will initially develop prototype devices at its Sunnyvale, CA, headquarters, while low-rate production is slated to begin next year at the company's new defense systems division.
The $0.5 million development contract should see the delivery of prototypes towards the end of this year. Production will then begin in 2006, assuming successful field qualification testing and subsequent authorization.
Amplifier production will take place in Diamond Springs, CA, at the company's manufacturing center of excellence, and is expected to run for between two and four years.
Chip fabrication will likely take place at Northrop Grumman s foundry, with which Endwave has a strategic alliance.
Endwave recently consolidated its existing defense product division with that of JCA Technology, the company that it acquired from Bookham Technology in July last year, to form Endwave Defense Systems.
The division is retaining the JCA brand name for its RF amplifier modules, which is the key technology behind its products.
