Advanced Antenna Concepts

Navy Applications of compact antennas span nearly all frequency bands, from ELF to SHF. In the short wavelength bands, electronically-steered array applications would benefit from small element-to-element spacing because in such geometries The effort begins with fundamental approaches to achieving wideband performance, with an emphasis on microstrip antenna elements. Surface mode microstrip (SMM) is shown viable. Next, antenna radar cross section (RCS) is investigated from the viewpoint of both structural and antenna mode scatter. Methods of reducing both of these components are addressed. In particular, structural mode scatter may be reduced with a structural RAM plastic, while antenna mode scatter requires special matching conditions.