Development and Testing of a Low-frequency Ultra-wideband Antenna System Designed for Unmanned Aeria

Mission Research Corporation (MRC) proposes the study of a unique low-frequency Ultra-Wideband (UWB) antenna system. UWB systems have a variety of important military, as well as civilian, uses. UWB devices will be used to provide reconnaissance both close-in and at stand-off ranges. Such sensors will be able to "look" through foliage and possibly earthen surface to reveal the inner details. This information can be used to determine the military use of a facility, as well as to provide dynamic ("on-the-f1y") targeting for smart bomb assets. MRC proposes to use a dual band antenna system to cover the entire 50 to 1000 MHz band for carriage on a TIER II UAV. The low band portion of the antenna system will operate from 50 to 100 MHz for horizontal polarization. The high band portion will cover the remaining 100 to 1000 MHz band for both vertical and horizontal polarizations. There is a total of three ports for the entire antenna system; low band H pol, high band H pol, and high band V pol RF radiation at low-band V pol will be a program goal. Each of these three ports are used for both transmit and receive. UWB radar is capable of detecting critical manufacturing flaws in large, man-made structures such as buildings, bridges, and air/space craft. Lifetime integrity tests can be conducted on buildings and bridges without the need to extract core samples. UWB radars may be used to locate buried man-made objects such as pipes, tunnels, and cables. UWB radars can also be used to locate natural features such as oil bearing shale, mineral deposits, underground water sources, and other desirable resources.