Novel Dual-band Antennas for VHF-UHF Communications on Submarines

Future RF communication technologies for US submarines require high antenna performance, such as increasing gain and multi-band/wide-band capability. Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) proposes to design, build, and test a novel dual-band antenna operating in both VHF (30 MHz-174 MHz) and UHF (225 MHz – 400 MHz) bands. This antenna will reduce the number of necessary antennas on board of US submarines, reducing costs and freeing space for additional capabilities for the communication suite and other electromagnetic instrumentation in the submarine mast. BENEFITS: While the dual-band antenna proposed in this SBIR NAVY program is specifically designed for the OE-538 mast, there are some aspects of the proposed technology solution that can be applied to very diverse commercial applications. Depending on how the antennas are designed, they can be successfully used in both high performance RF satellite communications and low-end market (wearable and cell phone antennas).