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Aerospace & Defense
Electronic Warfare (EW)
Reconfigurable FPGA solutions for low-latency, deterministic, and wideband electronic support, protection, and attack modalities.
Detect. Disrupt. Deny. Deceive. Defeat.
Modern electronic warfare systems demand rapid adaptability and precision as electromagnetic environments and threats grow more complex. Expanded operational frequencies, wider bandwidths, lower latencies, and greater system agility are the core design challenges electronic warfare system architects face today.
Altera® Agilex® FPGAs combine advanced signal processing with reconfigurable resources in compact and efficient packages, letting EW systems manage wider bandwidths, retune across broader frequency ranges, and respond to more dynamic threats in real time – all without a hardware respin.
The Challenges, and Why FPGA
The Challenge
Frequency Agility
EW systems must quickly and dynamically hop across wide frequency ranges as threats and protocols shift.
Why FPGA
Reprogrammable RF Chains
Reconfigure signal processing chains and operational modes in the field instead of redesigning hardware for each new threat.
The Challenge
Ultra-Low Latency Response
Detecting and countering threats in real time leaves no room for processing delay.
Why FPGA
Deterministic, Latency-Defined Processing
Hardware-defined response-specific logic delivers the deterministic, low-latency system behavior EW missions require.
The Challenge
Wideband Waveform Diversity
Modern EW systems must ingest, process, and act upon instantaneous bandwidths from tens of megahertz to multiple gigahertz.
Why FPGA
Direct RF Features
With up to 64 GSPS and 36 GHz of analog bandwidth, Agilex® 9 Direct RF handles high RF data volumes in a single device.
Why Altera
Direct RF Sampling
Agilex 9 Direct RF-Series integrates up to 64 GSPS ADCs/DACs with programmable fabric for wideband EW transceivers.
Common Tools, Full Portfolio
Agilex® 3 through Agilex® 9 share one design flow, so EW designs scale from edge nodes to large arrays.
Built for Mission Evolution
Reconfigurable IP & hardware architecture lets EW algorithms and capabilities evolve as threats change.
Dependable Hardware Ecosystem
From SOSA-aligned 3U VPX cards to rugged system-on-modules, Altera’s partner solutions enable faster deployment.
Get Started
More Aerospace & Defense Applications
Radar
High-performance FPGA SoCs for real-time radar signal capture, processing, beamforming, tracking.
Secure Communication
Software-defined, SWaP-optimized FPGAs for secure, tamper-resistant military communications.
Avionics
Powering Safer, Smarter Avionics with DO-254-Capable FPGAs. Enabling high-performance cockpit displays, sensor fusion, and mission-critical computing.
Drones & Unmanned Systems
Scalable FPGAs from Group 1 to Group 5 unmanned systems and decoy platforms.
Precision-Guided Munitions
FPGAs for guidance, navigation, and target identification in SWaP-C-constrained munitions.
Common Questions
Reprogrammable FPGAs let platform functions evolve as electromagnetic environments and requirements change. Processing chains and operational modes can be updated without major hardware respins, providing a reusable hardware foundation for long-lived systems.
Altera Agilex 9 Direct RF-Series integrates ADCs and DACs with programmable FPGA fabric. This integration handles wideband RF data and simplifies the collection of discrete components in an RF platform. Explore Agilex 9 Direct RF FPGAs
Altera's common design flow spans Agilex 3 through Agilex 9. The portfolio supports a range of processing and integration needs, from compact edge nodes to larger platforms, with shared tools and IP resources.
DSP Builder is listed alongside FPGA AI Suite and Platform Designer as an Altera software resource. These tools complement development hardware and reference materials, giving engineers a starting point for reviewing the software and IP ecosystem associated with Agilex platforms. Explore FPGA digital signal processing tools
Altera offers development hardware, software tools and reference-design collateral for platform evaluation. Altera's Direct RF resources are complemented by a hardware ecosystem that includes VPX cards and rugged system-on-modules. Explore Altera aerospace and defense design resources
The portfolio includes VPX cards and rugged system-on-modules alongside FPGA development hardware. These board-level options complement Agilex device resources and shared tools, giving technical buyers different packaging and integration starting points when reviewing an RF processing platform.