Efficient Wideband Antenna for JTRS Ground Mobile Radio (GMR) Communications Systems

In this Phase II program, FIRST RF Corporation proposes technology which solves a technology gap which exists for the JTRS Ground Mobile Radio (GMR) segment; namely, a wideband/multi-band antenna covering the 30-88, 225 450, and 1200 2000 MHz bands. During Phase I, FIRST RF took an aggressive engineering approach which included antenna modeling, prototyping, and measurement in the installed environment. Phase I ended with a prototype tri-band antenna which meets nearly all the RF requirements of the program. Phase II is focused on optimizing the RF performance, shrinking the height of the antenna by combining apertures, and ruggedizing the antenna for the harsh ground operational environments. The technology is based on FIRST RF"s very successful line of ultra-wideband antennas used for ground-based electronic warfare (EW). By combining apertures, multiple antennas can be fit into the 82"height requirement. In addition to the RF performance of the antenna, the proposed design uses a custom-designed spring-base to dampen vehicle dynamics and a ruggedized radome. Lessons learned from delivering over 130,000 antennas to the field will be applied to this JTRS GMR program.