Microwave Journal
www.microwavejournal.com/articles/11430-looking-ahead

Looking Ahead

June 30, 2011

With MTT-S IMS2011 behind us and summer kicking in, many of the industry's marketing folks may want to take a little breather. That is, if it weren't for all those action items we signed up for at IMS. I know I have a few. At this year's show, I set a personal record for soliciting future papers from exhibitors. Now I just have to chase authors for their content. If you missed my invitation to submit a technical article or product feature for consideration, please feel free to contact me or any of our editors. With 600 exhibitors at IMS, it was hard to see you all. In the meantime, we have our eyes set on our next quarter's editorial, which should be of considerable interest to both our readers and advertisers. I'll sum up our main focus for August, September and October in three words – Aerospace and Defense.

August – Satellite and Radio Communications

This month we look at trends in satcom technology requirements and the related market opportunities in our cover feature from Integral Systems. The author explores a variety of technical and financial challenges and how they translate into business opportunities including: terminal advances (from small deployable to on-the-move systems), advances in SSPA efficiencies (to replace TWTAs), operational systems with integrated test and training, channel simulation, interference detection and signal analysis. I believe business leaders and engineers in the satellite market today will find this article up-to-date and very insightful. Additonal editorial in August includes a report on Gallium Nitride (GaN) HEMTs for space and radio applications from Mitsubishi and a technical article from the engineers at Electrobit on G/T measurements (antenna gain versus receiver noise temperature) for a Satellite-Terrestrial Handset with Internal and External Antennas. These two articles make great reference material and could enjoy a long shelf life.

We also provide a final look at IMS2011 with our annual wrap-up. This year we are including a follow-up to our graphic novel, which ran in the May issue. Be sure to check this one out, maybe your mug is in there.

August Supplement – Military Microwaves

At the beginning of this year, the Journal added a monthly “Military Microwaves” newsletter to our growing inventory of electronic publications. In addition to defense related news, this newsletter provides industry insight and market analysis from our regular guest contributors Jim Fallon (Fallon & Associates Consulting) and Asif Anwar (Strategy Analytics). In this month’s supplement, Fallon will provide commentary on ITAR reform and how this government regulation could be improved upon to ensure homeland security while not penalizing American businesses and their partners abroad. Asif Anwar, along with Eric Higham will examine the defense market trends for microwave applications. We are pleased that both these authors will contribute major articles to our August supplement, which has always been our largest supplement (in terms of ad pages) of the year. With bonus distribution at Milcom and European Microwave Week, we anticipate that this issue will end up in front of key business and government decision makers.

September – EuMW Show Issue

This year, Microwave Journal and Horizon House, in cooperation with the European Microwave Association (EuMA), will be expanding last year’s European Microwave Week Defense Executive Forum into a full day event. The agenda will focus on security, sensing and radars with sessions that include industry and agency speakers and two separate panels. Coordinating with the theme of this special event, our September issue will take a look at the topics to be discussed in this forum with editorial from some of the participants including the keynote speaker, Barry Trimmer of Thales on the topic of “Technological Convergence Between Radar, EW and Comms Against a Reducing Budget Background”. European editor, Richard Mumford will contribute a special report on the overall defense forum along with input from invited authors from within the EuMA organization.

October – Government and Military Electronics

Insurgencies, asymmetric battlefields, shifting engagements, the Arab Spring and troop draw downs in Iraq and Afghanistan are all indicative of a changing world order. In response, many governments of the developed world are reevaluating their approach to security and the defense systems they are investing in, especially in light of growing austerity pressure. Say hello to more UAVs , stealthy aircraft (and vehicles in general) and small tactical special operations (aka Navy SEALS). Say good bye to some Cold War era tactics and hardware. As security and defense needs get more nuanced for today’s real and complex threats, the systems that get funded will be smart, capable and cost effective. And they will certainly use microwave technology to identify threats more clearly and communicate with other systems and their operators. In October, we look at some of the new microwave technologies being developed to counter emerging global threats. We look at some devices and systems that are suitable for spy movies and futuristic thrillers, utilizing microwave technology that would make James Bond proud. Who says defense/security systems can’t be cool? Are your company’s products a part of this brave new world? Let us help you get the word out.