Wideband Conformal Antenna
Navy SBIR FY2008.2


Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2008.2
Topic No.: N08-175
Topic Title: Wideband Conformal Antenna
Proposal No.: N082-175-0831
Firm: FIRST RF CORPORATION
4865 Sterling Drive
Boulder, Colorado 80301
Contact: Farzin Lalezari
Phone: (303) 449-5211
Web Site: firstrf.com
Abstract: As Joint Counter Radio Frequency IED Electronic Warfare (JCREW) technology becomes increasingly prolific in military applications for ground forces, there is a corresponding requirement to develop antenna systems that accommodate present and foreseeable integration and performance challenges for these systems. While existing antenna systems for JCREW applications have demonstrated the ability to provide acceptable performance on a wide variety of ground mobile platforms, each of these platforms has different impacts on - and experiences effects due to - the desired performance of these systems. In order to achieve more uniform performance and seamless integration for future JCREW systems, the focus of this effort is on conformal vehicle-mounted antennas, as they present the most significant technical challenges to meeting these goals. To overcome these challenges, technological advances must be made to develop antenna hardware that can be readily integrated onto a wide variety of platforms without compromising EW performance or the performance of existing systems. A natural approach to simultaneously addressing these problems is to use conformally-mounted antennas. Specifically, if antennas tailored to JCREW requirements can be mounted on the broad outward-facing surfaces common to military ground vehicles, they will provide techniques for addressing both electrical and mechanical challenges experienced in current systems.
Benefits: The technology presented in this proposal has applicability not only to next-generation EW applications, but has a wide range of applicability to other military and commercial applications that require multiple wideband and multi-function RF functions. Military applications include manned and unmanned platforms such as the HMMWV, MRAP, Shadow 200 UAV, as well as other airborne and seaborne vehicles. Civilian applications include personal electronics like laptops or automobiles, in-home WiMAX, base station antennas, as well as maritime communications, air traffic, and other public transportation that support multiple RF functions.

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