MEMS attenuators (MEMS VOAs) are based on a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) technology. It is a micro-optic component designed for next generation, dynamically configurable optical networks. There are two types: bright state and dark state. These operate by collecting and collimating light from an input fiber and then reflecting this light off of an ultra-stable and reliable, single-axis DiCon MEMS mirror. These products provide the basis for spectrally efficient DWDM transmission utilizing dispersion tolerant modulation, channel monitoring, wavelength switching, remote power control and. In this paper, different concepts of reconfigurable RF-MEMS attenuators for beamforming applications are proposed and critically assessed.