Last week, our community experienced an unimaginable tragedy when the Marshall Fire ignited outside of Boulder and spread into the neighboring cities of Louisville and Superior, resulting in the destruction of over 1,000 homes and other structures. Thousands of people have experienced direct or tangential impact from this fire, including many FIRST RF employees. Our hearts go out to the survivors of this catastrophic event and the entire Boulder community. If you would like to help, please consider visiting the Community Foundation Boulder County website at https://www.commfound.org/grants/get-grant/Boulder-County-Wildfire-Fund.

With support from a Phase II Army SBIR out of Redstone Arsenal, FIRST RF recently completed development of a real-time W-Band imaging sensor. This low-cost sensor utilizes sub-optical RF frequencies which can penetrate obstructions such as sand and dust but are also high enough in the RF spectrum to provide relatively high image resolution from a physically small device. These benefits serve a variety of applications including surveillance, rescue, and navigation. We are excited to continue working with Army to improve the quality and latency of this imager's video capture, and we see great potential for W-Band in the future. If you are interested in learning more about this technology, please message us at our website: www.firstrf.com. Distribution Statement A. Approved for Public Release; Distribution Unlimited.

This month, FIRST RF completed testing and delivery of the latest shipset of our FRF-240 radar phased array. This radar antenna sets the standard for Detect and Avoid (DAA) performance for large unmanned aerial systems operating around the globe. Measurements collected using FIRST RF's on-site near-field antenna range are used to accurately calibrate these antenna systems, ensuring the success of their critical safety-of-flight mission.

This summer, a small interdisciplinary team of FIRST RF engineers completed successful flight testing of a millimeter-wave (165-180 GHz) passive radiometer. This instrument provides real-time detection of icing hazards that are created by clouds composed of super-cooled liquid water. The information from this device allows the pilot to safely fly fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft—especially unmanned aerial systems—in a much wider range of operating conditions. FIRST RF plans to mature this technology to offer a first-of-its-kind product to support both commercial and military aircraft.

FIRST RF recently updated our LinkedIn page (https://www.linkedin.com/company/first-rf/) and also launched an Instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/firstrfcorp/). Please follow us there as we share more updates and news about the exciting work we're doing.

Lockheed Martin Space announced FIRST RF Corporation as a recipient of its prestigious Outstanding Small Business Award for FIRST RF’s groundbreaking work in digital phased array technology. As one of eight companies to receive this award for 2020, FIRST RF is honored to be recognized for our ability to continue to provide our customers with industry-leading technology and uncompromised support—even under the challenging circumstances presented by COVID-19.

Gogo (NASDAQ: GOGO), the leading global provider of broadband connectivity products and services for aviation, today announced three strategic partners which will play key roles in Gogo's development of its 5G system and network. A true 5G experience requires every piece of the network and the onboard system hardware, software and antennas to be 5G capable.  FIRST RF is pleased to be Gogo's 5G airborn antenna provider.  Read more...

Earlier today, the Air Force Academy’s FalconSAT-6 satellite was successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. One of the FalconSAT-6 payloads, the Harmonic Ionospheric Propagation Experiment (HIPE) features FIRST RF’s FRF-239, a broadband antenna system based on one of our patented antenna technologies. We are proud to have been part of the Air Force Academy team, and congratulate them on the successful launch. Read more…

FIRST RF is excited to have our phased array technology featured in Popular Science. We are proud to be a supplier to Raytheon for their Low Power Radar (LPR) program as we continue to advance the state of the art in low-cost, high-performance phased array antennas.