To generate linearly chirped microwave signals with large frequency tunable range, a photonic approach is proposed. A dual-output dual-parallel Mach–Zehnder modulator followed by a polarisation beam combiner and an optical filter are utilised to generate orthogonally polarised $\pm$ second-order optical sidebands. A polarisation modulator is employed to achieve phase modulation of the two wavelengths. The balanced detection is applied to suppress the distortion and background noise. The central frequency of the generated signal is four times that of the local oscillator frequency. Simulation results show that a linear pulse is produced with time-bandwidth as well as a compression ratio for the pulse of 11 and 9.3 respectively. Moreover, a peak-to-sidelobe ratio of 7.4 dB is generated. The system has both good reconfigurability and tunability, and its frequency can be continuously adjusted from about 10 GHz to as much as 50 GHz in principle.