EHF FLUSH MOUNTED CONFORMAL ARRAY FOR AIRCRAFT COMMAND AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

THE NEED FOR LARGE, HIGH-PERFORMANCE ARRAYS ON NONPLANAR SURFACES, COUPLED WITH RECENT ADVANCES IN ELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY, HAS RESULTED IN A RECENT SURGE OF INTEREST IN CONFORMAL ARRAYS. APPLICATIONS INCLUDE LARGE CONFORMAL ARRAYS ON AIRCRAFT FUSELAGE FOR SURVEILLANCE, ON ARTILLERY SHELLS, FOR MISSILE SEEKERS (AIR-TO-AIR, AND AIR-TOSURFACE APPLICATIONS) AND ON REENTRY VEHICLES. CONFORMAL ARRAYS HAVE PROVEN TO BE ATTRACTIVE ALTERNATIVES TO MOUNTING EXTERNAL RADOMES ON, CUTTING HOLES IN, OR CHANGING THE SHAPES OF VEHICLES TO ACCOMMODATE AN ANTENNA. THESE ARRAYS ARE ESPECIALLY ATTRACTIVE FOR APPLICATIONS WHICH REQUIRE WIDE ANGULAR COVERAGE WHILE MINIMIZING SCAN LOSS. THE TECHNICAL OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO CONDUCT A FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR DUAL FREQUENCY CONFORMAL ARRAY CAPABLE OF SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE GOALS WHICH INCLUDE AN EXCESS OF UPPER HEMISPHERICAL COVERAGE FROM AN AIRCRAFT PLATFORM TO A SATELLITE WITH THE ARRAY ABLE TO PROVIDE A TRANSMITTING POWER IN EXCESS OF 100 W AT 44 GHZ AND RECEIVING AT 20 GHZ. ALSO TO BE PROVIDED IN THE STUDY, THE DESIGN SHALL PROVIDE 40 DBI GAIN AT BOTH FREQUENCIES, BE CIRCULARLY POLARIZED, WITH A BANDWIDTH LESS THAN FIVE PERCENT OF THE TRANSMITTED OR RECEIVED FREQUENCY, AND INCLUDE A STEERABLE ARRAY CAPABLE OF LOCKING ONTO A RECEIVED SIGNAL FROM A SATELLITE.