With this design, can you still swap a module when it becomes degraded or you'll have to swap the integrated backend chip?
You have either swap the entire panel or an entire subarray, depending on how it is made. The entire array can be like a single tile, or if its subarrays, each subarray is like a tile. it can easily be mass produced and the failure rate has to be very low. This isn't different from a 5G base station phase array.
Each IC alone is a complete phase array module and the entire array is a PCB.
I would think the power is limited too, so it won't replace radars you see in aircraft, ships and land vehicles. But it can replace radars used in smaller vehicles such as UAVs, or be deployed in small vehicles, like small planes, helicopters, boats. The JARI USV would be good example.
Here you compare tile based phase array (a) versus traditional brick style AESA architecture (b). In the example below, a single brick module has eight T/R elements.
