Demonstration and Development of High-frequency Directive and Reconfigurable Aperstructures (HiDRA)

Naval platforms have limited space for the numerous antenna apertures that are required for a successful mission. Ideally, the various antennas can be combined into a single system while physically integrating it into the platform structure, thereby maximizing utility. This effort extends our prior work on aperstructures to develop and demonstrate a high-frequency (HF) to ultra-high frequency (UHF) antenna prototype that uses the existing structure of a naval platform. During the Phase I effort, Toyon demonstrated a new technique that enables a single, continuous, conductive surface to support multiple antenna modes. The technique was both successfully simulated, and a proof-of-concept (POC) was built and tested. During the Phase II effort, Toyon will develop a module that can be installed on existing structures to design new antennas. The module will be productized and ready for follow-on field testing at the conclusion of the Phase II effort. This module will allow engineers to optimize the antenna gain and efficiency while reducing the radar cross section (RCS) of the platform. Whenever possible, additive manufacturing techniques will be used to enable rapid production and testing of the scaled system.