Aerospace and defense modernization refers to the rapid innovation of defense technologies supporting higher performance and enhanced capabilities. Modernization is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, driven by the need to outmatch evolving threats in contested, congested environments. Aerospace and defense programs are increasingly leveraging commercial technologies, such as 5G, AI, cloud-based simulation, and modular open architectures, to keep pace with rapid innovation cycles and budget constraints. This convergence of defense and commercial ecosystems enables scalable, software-defined solutions that support interoperability, faster upgrades, and mission-level realism. From fully digital phased arrays and cognitive radar to spectrum-aware autonomous systems and secure satellite networks, modernization strategies now prioritize adaptability, resilience, and cost efficiency. By integrating proven commercial advancements into military platforms, defense organizations can shorten development timelines, enhance readiness, and maintain technological superiority in an era where agility and collaboration are strategic imperatives.

As a leader in commercial and defense test technologies, Keysight is at the forefront of the defense modernization efforts. Providing commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) test capabilities to the defense industry quicker, to meet the rapidly evolving defense ecosystems and environments.

The term “electronic warfare” (EW) refers to the use of the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum by the defense industry. Methods to prevail in the EM spectrum continue to advance, exposing military personnel and assets to potential threats. EW systems must anticipate adversary threats and generate countermeasures in this challenging environment. As a result, threat simulation technologies must be able to replicate realistic EM spectrum environments to validate EW system capabilities and identify potential risks.

EW testing involves evaluating systems and components that detect, counter, or exploit electromagnetic signals in military environments. It requires simulating realistic threat scenarios using advanced signal generation, real-time analysis, and synchronized hardware/software platforms to validate performance in detecting threats, jamming communications, and integrating across air, sea, and land platforms.

Keysight’s Electronic Warfare Advanced Simulation Platform (EWASP) supports this by enabling scalable, adaptable testing environments for defense applications, including training, reprogramming, and R&D. The goal is to ensure readiness and superiority in dynamic electronic threat landscapes.

Radar (radio detection and ranging) uses RF or microwave transmitters and receivers to determine the range, angle, or velocity of a variety of objects including aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and even terrain. Radar detects distant objects by transmitting some electromagnetic (EM) energy from an antenna. The RF or microwave systems propagate outward through space and part of that energy is reflected back when they hit an object. Radar systems measure that reflected energy to determine factors like how far away the object is or the velocity at which it is moving.

Defense radar is undergoing a major architectural shift as programs accelerate the adoption of fully digital phased arrays. The move away from traditional analog beamforming is enabling orders-of-magnitude improvements in agility, instantaneous bandwidth, and simultaneous multi-mission operation. This shift is driven by the need to detect and track low-radar cross section (RCS), highly maneuverable threats in more congested and contested environments.

At the same time, radar and electronic warfare architectures are beginning to converge. Modern systems increasingly integrate sensing, jamming, communications, and spectrum awareness into a unified digital backbone. This is reshaping how defense primes architect their next-generation platforms and placing new pressures on system integration, synchronization, and digital calibration workflows.

Looking ahead, the industry is preparing for a decade of unprecedented radar complexity, where software-defined architectures, scalable digital tiles, and heterogeneous processing will become the norm across air, land, sea, and space domains.

Satellite testing refers to a wide range of approaches used to measure satellite performance, reliability, and safety throughout satellite design, manufacturing, and launch. Satellites, particularly in the lower earth orbit (LEO), support increasingly complex use cases such as direct-to-handset (DTH) and sensing capabilities from the extreme environment of space. In the face of radiation, temperature fluctuations, and mechanical stresses during launch, testing helps to validate communication links, data handling, and payload performance to prevent costly mission failure and ensure satellite performance. Keysight can help you accelerate the speed of space and satellite design, test, and manufacturing while maintaining a high quality of service.

Modern radar and communication systems rely on phased arrays to provide essential capabilities such as beamforming and beam steering. Beamforming offers numerous advantages for wireless communication links including reduced interference, increased range, expanded number of services, and improved security. The phased array antenna performs beam steering through algorithms manipulating the independent phase and amplitude fed into each antenna element. Controlling the phase between elements steers the beam in a specific direction while controlling the amplitude shapes the beam pattern and reduces sidelobe levels. Modern phased array antennas beam steer electronically, so engineers commonly refer to phased arrays as electronically scanned arrays (ESAs). Architectures such as active ESA (AESA) rely on advanced materials such as gallium nitride (GaN) to achieve greater performance in beamforming and beam steering for modern radar systems. Keysight has solutions to address all phases of developing a radar system from design to installation and verification.

Testing phased array antennas with high-accuracy calibration requires spherical antenna pattern measurements. A single test bed, including a vector network analyzer (VNA), a vector signal generator (VSG), a compact antenna test range (CATR), and multiple instrument software applications, enables a broad range of measurements while simplifying the calibration and test setup. The VSG supplies the required wideband modulated signal at high-carrier frequencies while a high-speed digital control interfaces with the phased array. The Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments (SCPI) parser integrates the beamforming circuit into the test system.

Combined with the CATR and hardware-in-the-loop test methods, the VNA provides the necessary level of measurement precision by applying vector-error correction and advanced calibration methods. VNA software applications enable the gain compression, gain-over-noise-temperature (G/T), and low residual error vector magnitude (EVM) measurements. These measurements are necessary for rapid and accurate AESA calibration and beamforming performance validation.