Anatech Electronics June 2025 Newsletter

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Sam Benzacar, of Anatech Electronics, an RF and microwave filter company, has published his June 2025 newsletter that, along with timely news items, features his short op-ed titled "FAA's Aging Systems Need Radar Updates." In it, he points out how the FAA struggles with outdated aviation infrastructure, including unreliable radar and telecom systems, causing frequent disruptions. A proposed $8B modernization plan focuses mostly on maintaining old equipment rather than full upgrades. Temporary fixes like flight restrictions and backups are insufficient. Despite these challenges, commercial air travel remains far safer than driving. Needing to travel to and from Newark and NYC, he have a vested interest in improving the safety of our airways!

A Word from Sam Benzacar - FAA's Aging Systems Need Radar Updates

By Sam Benzacar

America's aviation infrastructure requires attention, and the Federal Aviation Administration needs to accelerate its response to radar system challenges. The recent disruption at Newark Liberty International Airport, where radar systems experienced a 90-second outage, temporarily limiting controllers' ability to track aircraft, highlights the consequences of delayed modernization efforts.

According to a 2023 FAA assessment, more than a third of the nation's air traffic control systems need significant updates. Government data shows that 76% of FAA air traffic systems are classified as "unsustainable" or "potentially unsustainable," with approximately 700 communications disruptions occurring weekly.

Last year, the agency relocated Newark's air traffic controllers from Long Island to Philadelphia to address staffing concerns. This solution created increased reliance on ancient "twisted-pair" telecommunications infrastructure. A 2022 internal FAA study noted that this is an isolated incident, but such failures have occurred multiple times.

The President's FY 2025 budget allocates $8 billion over five years to modernize 377 critical radar systems, which are currently averaging 36 years old. However, as former FAA Chief Operating Officer David Grizzle observes, "more than 90% goes to fund old equipment." Current spending primarily maintains existing infrastructure rather than advancing comprehensive modernization.

The agency's current strategies - flight limitations at Newark, additional telecommunications connections, and temporary backup systems - represent incremental approaches to challenges that require fundamental solutions.

Nevertheless, keep in mind that your odds of being in a fatal car accident are roughly 1 in 5,000 over a lifetime, compared with 1 in 11 million in a commercial airplane crash. Put another way, you'd need to fly every day for about 22,000 years before being in a fatal crash.

GlobalFoundries Commits $3 Billion for U.S. Fabs 

GlobalFoundries plans to invest $3 billion in U.S. semiconductor production, bringing the company's total investment in the U.S. to $16 billion. The funding will support advanced technologies, including silicon photonics, as tech companies increasingly seek domestic suppliers to reduce tariff exposure. The funding will be used for R&D in silicon photonics, advanced packaging, and GaN technologies. Only four companies outside China provide mature foundry capabilities at GlobalFoundries' scale, and it's the sole US-headquartered company among them. The investment includes funding to revitalize an existing fabrication facility in Burlington, VT, that focuses on 200-millimeter process technologies. It will become the first U.S. facility capable of high-volume manufacturing of GaN-SiC semiconductors. 

ESA Launches Forest-Monitoring Satellite 

The European Space Agency and Airbus have developed Biomass, the largest space-based radar system ever built, which uses previously banned frequencies to see beneath forest canopies. The mission measures forest biomass to determine carbon storage since approximately half of a tree's dry mass is carbon. Scientists have long struggled to obtain these measurements from space. Traditional satellite imagery only shows treetops, while existing radar systems use C-band frequencies that bounce off leaves without penetrating to the forest floor. Biomass solves this by using P-band frequencies (250 to 500 MHz) that can detect larger branches and tree trunks where most mass is stored.

The project's main challenge was that P-band antennas are enormous, requiring a satellite measuring 2m x 2m x 4m with a 12-meter radar antenna on an extended boom. International regulations typically prohibit space-based P-band radars due to interference concerns. ESA secured special exemptions but with major constraints: the radar must shut off over North America and Europe to avoid disrupting terrestrial communications. 

Scientists Harness Graphene to Create Terahertz Waves 

Researchers have combined graphene with laser technology to generate terahertz waves with very high efficiency, bridging the gap between gigahertz electronics and terahertz photonics, utilizing the Nobel Prize-winning material discovered in the early 2000s. The terahertz band, spanning approximately 0.1 THz to 10 THz, lies between millimeter wavelengths and infrared light. Solid-state and vacuum-tube devices have difficulty generating signals in this range, while wavelengths remain too long for traditional optical devices. 

Terahertz waves offer significant promise as the band provides an extensive bandwidth that allows very high data rates. They also show promise for medical imaging, security screening, and various sensing applications due to their unique material interaction properties. The research team demonstrated how combining graphene structures with laser systems can overcome traditional limitations in terahertz generation. 

Anatech Electronics Introduces a New Line of Suspended Stripline and Waveguide Type RF Filters

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About Anatech Electronics

Anatech Electronics, Inc. (AEI) specializes in the design and manufacture of standard and custom RF and microwave filters and other passive components and subsystems employed in commercial, industrial, and aerospace and applications. Products are available from an operating frequency range of 10 kHz to 30 GHz and include cavity, ceramic, crystal, LC, and surface acoustic wave (SAW), as well as power combiners/dividers, duplexers and diplexers, directional couplers, terminations, attenuators, circulators, EMI filters, and lightning arrestors. The company's custom products and capabilities are available at www.anatechelectronics.com.

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Anatech Electronics, Inc.
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Garfield, NJ 07026
(973) 772-4242

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