Ultra Wideband Conformal Low Profile Antennas (1000-213)

SI2 Technologies, Inc. (SI2) proposes to design and develop a wideband conformal antenna system for a software defined radio as a baseline demonstration for a wideband low profile antenna technology. SI2 will leverage experience with advanced materials and novel antenna elements to design, build and test a series of technology demonstrators. The antenna will be designed for integration into a payload pod and meet the size, weight and power constraints of a small unmanned aerial system (UAS). The Phase II program is built upon previous work conducted by SI2 during a Phase I effort to develop conformal antennas for strike weapons. The advantages of SI2"s antenna solution include: low profile, wide instantaneous bandwidth and high efficiency. In Phase II, this antenna concept will be refined through modeling and hardware. The antenna demonstrator will be integrated with a composite pod and tested in conjunction with a software defined radio. The performance of the antenna system will be optimized and validated through the manufacture and testing of hardware demonstrators. A flight test prototype will be fabricated to support a test of opportunity coinciding with Navy development efforts, resulting in TRL 7 for the antenna system.