MICROWAVE MANUFACTURING CENTER INVESTMENT BY ASELSAN ASELSAN Expands Its Microwave Module Manufacturing Center with New Investments
ASELSAN is designing and manufacturing microwave frequency modules that are manufactured with special infrastructure that is among only a handful of companies in the world and that is the essential component of radar systems with high technology phased array antennas and electronic warfare systems used in air platforms such as airplanes and helicopters.
The microwave module manufacturing activities of ASELSAN takes place in a sterile room environment (where air in certain sections is exclusively filtered) at the Microwave Module Manufacturing Center. The manufacturing infrastructure in this area contain both specialized manual and automatic welding, fastening, soldering and insulating equipment for microwave module manufacturing. The same infrastructure also provides the opportunity for “aerospace qualified” microwave module manufacturing that meets the requirements of aerospace systems.
In addition to its existing facilities, with the Gölbaşı, Ankara Radar and Electronic Warfare Systems Facility that is being constructed by ASELSAN with an investment exceeding 200 million dollars, the microwave module manufacturing area will increase to over 2,000 m². When activities commence at this facility, the modules manufactured with the expanded capacity, aside from being utilized for the advanced technology systems of the Turkish Armed Forces, will also be exported. With this new investment, ASELSAN will become one of the three biggest microwave module manufacturers in Europe. Aside from existing direct sales to 36 countries, with technology transfer that encompasses joint manufacturing activities which is exported, ASELSAN aims to increase its export volume with the overseas sales of its microwave module products.
While the microwave modules accomplish many of the functions of the radar and electronics warfare systems with sensitivity as required by military systems, they can also provide important advantages by being compact and light. For example, the “transmitter receiver module” can be manufactured the size of a small mobile phone. According to the system design, the signal receiver function of the “receiver module” or the signal transmitter function of the “transmitter module” can also be very compact. With the joint use of a number of these modules, the high performance sought can be obtained with very small dimensions.
Aside from the receiver, transmitter and the transmitter/receiver modules manufactured at the ASELSAN Microwave Module Manufacturing Center and fitted in the radars and electronic warfare systems that are delivered to the Turkish Armed Forces and that are indigenously developed by ASELSAN, frequency reduction modules, frequency upgrade modules, switching modules and separator modules and other microwave modules that provide many other functions are also used.
