Compact UHF/VHF Antenna

Toyon proposes to leverage the Zonal Imaging Demonstrator Prototype Antenna (ZIDPA) developed in Phase I to complete the production-ready design of the Compact UHF/VHF Zonal Imaging Antenna (CUZIA) – a refined and ruggedized version with a complete set of manufacturing drawings and production cost estimate. It will be built upon (1) lessons learned from testing ZIDPA at an indoor antenna test range, (2) testing by a leading manufacturer of portable zonal imaging systems, and (3) receiving detailed system requirements from the B-2 Program Office (B-2 PMO). CUZIA will produce higher directivity beam patterns and cover twice the bandwidth of the dual-ridged horns that are typically used in portable near-field imaging systems. The antenna occupies one-tenth the volume of a VHF horn, which makes is relatively compact and requires no assembly. Its high-directivity beam pattern places a higher percentage of the imaging system’s energy on the target than on nearby clutter sources (e.g., landing gear, rebar in concrete, etc.), which improves imaging performance by decreasing reflected energy from clutter sources. ZIDPA’s wide frequency coverage and dual-polarization (H- and V-pol) operation allows the 5-Level maintainer to image over UHF/VHF without swapping antennas or performing physical rotations between tests.