The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is pursuing wideband electronic-support systems that could improve sensing and situational awareness across a range of platforms.
Rather than digitizing every radio-frequency (RF) signal they receive, the proposed systems would filter signals in analog form and pass only selected information on for digital processing.
The approach aims to give sensors broad coverage and the ability to detect weak signals and respond quickly, while managing the demands on processing power, size, weight, and energy use.
The work falls under DARPA’s new Beam-Space Analog Processing for Multifunctional Enhanced RF Systems (BEAMERS) program, according to a special notice.
The agency is seeking expertise in analog beamspace processing, including the use of lenses, gradient-index structures, and phased-array-fed lenses.
Other areas of interest include RF and microwave photonics, dividing wide frequency ranges into channels, detecting events and reducing data, and moving information quickly between system components.
The Road Ahead
DARPA will hold an Industry Day on September 30, 2026, at the Strategic Analysis, Inc. Executive Conference Center in Arlington, Virginia, to present BEAMERS’ technical goals and proposed system architecture.
The event will begin with a SECRET-level government presentation, followed by an industry poster session at the Controlled Unclassified Information level.
The agency is inviting major contractors and nontraditional technology firms to identify where their capabilities could work together.
