Hypres wins DOD superconducting work

Hypres Inc. won a two-year Defense Department deal worth up to $1.5 million for a prototype cryocooler and cryopackage that could support the superconducting of digital radios in combat communications systems.

The cryocooler and cryopackage are necessary to cool the circuits of Hypres' superconductor microelectronics (SME).

Elmsford, N.Y.-based Hypres, which develops SME technology, will design, build and test a model of a ruggedized, compact, tactical cryocooler and cryopackage. The package must meet specific size, weight, durability and capacity needs and be able to host the 10-channel, all-digital transceiver that Hypres is developing. It also must be able to provide a plug-in upgrade of the four-channel Joint Tactical Radio System Cluster 1 Radio.

The cryocooler will provide the temperatures (4 degrees to 5 degrees Kelvin) needed to support SME devices. The cryopackage provides the housing for SME devices and electrical and mechanical interfaces to the rest of the communication system.

When complete, this work "will have provided DOD with the most advanced, high-performance family of direct-digitization communications products" available, Hypres General Manager Richard Hitt said in a statement.