Highly Directive Low Frequency Super Gain Compact Antenna

Toyon proposes to design, construct, and deliver two Imaging, Gain Calibration, and Gain Verification Antennas (ICVAs) to the USAF’s National Radar Cross Section Test Facility (NRTF) at Holloman AFB, New Mexico. The ICVA development will leverage Toyon’s prior work on two wideband (> 20:1 bandwidth) antenna projects with the USAF. The ICVA can be mounted directly on NRTF’s main pylon or on a support bracket for integration with a portable zonal imaging radar. Its wideband frequency coverage and dual‐polarization (H/V‐pol) operation allows the user to operate over UHF/VHF without changing antennas or performing physical rotations of the antenna between tests. Due to its increased directivity, the ICVA places a higher percentage of the antenna’s energy in the direction of the target, or toward downrange receiving antennas, than it places on nearby clutter and multipath sources. This improves calibration and imaging performance by decreasing the reflected energy from unwanted scatterers. In addition, the antenna occupies one‐tenth the volume of a comparable VHF horn, which reduces its drag coefficient when subjected to high wind gusts on the pylon.