Light Weight Man-portable High Frequency (HF) Antenna

According to Jane’s, “High Frequency (HF) communication systems are witnessing a resurgence as forward deployed and small unit teams seek to overcome emerging challenges associated with operating in Command and Control Denied or Degraded Environments (C2D2Es)”. According to senior service personnel from across the NATO special operations community, HF communications are being considered by multiple force components as an alternative capability to UHF satellite communications (SATCOM), which continue to be heavily relied upon for Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) communications. The “man-portable” HF antenna systems currently in the Army inventory require several soldiers to carry all the components. These antenna systems require several soldiers to erect, and are time consuming to assemble. These antenna systems also require considerable time to disassemble and store before the unit can move to its next objective. The opportunity here is to develop a new, lighter system that could be less of a burden on the warfighter to be able to quickly establish a reach back communication link with Headquarters. The TQS team will research and present a design a man-portable HF antenna using state-of-the art composite materials comprised of conductive Nano-materials to meet the specifications of this SBIR topic.