Army Researchers Focus on Smart,
Stealthy Antennas at last??
February 16, 2010 - by Henry S. Kenyon
If U.S. Army scientists have their way, future antennas for vehicles and dismounted infantry will be smaller and more nondescript and will
feature greatly increased reception. Research is focusing on lightweight conformal antennas that can be built into soldiers uniforms and
equipment as well as vehicle structures.
One of the major thrusts of the Armys work is making antennas less obvious, says Dr. Steven Weiss, team leader of the U.S. Army
Research Laboratorys (ARLs) antenna team. He notes that Army researchers also are examining new technologies such as
metamaterialsengineered substances that do not have properties found in nature. For example, mounting antennas to conform to the
side or the inside of a vehicle can affect their performance, but antennas made of metamaterials may counteract some of these effects.
The Army is interested in developing conformal antennas for ground vehicles. These could be used for communications or jamming
improvised explosive devices. Because they are part of the vehicles structure, they lower its overall visual profile, making it more
survivable on the battlefield. Antennas could be inconspicuously mounted onto vehicles in a number of ways: flush against the vehicles
skin, incorporated into part of its structure such as a bumper, or conformed to the contours of the vehicles shape.
But developing conformal antennas for ground vehicles presents a variety of challenges. These issues include ground effects, such as radio
interference, and size and weight issues for vehicles equipped with the antennas.
Weiss notes that researchers want to develop electronically scannable antennas that do not move physically but would enable radios to
maintain point-to-point communications. Electronically scanned phased antennas are used for radar systems on ships and aircraft, but
their cost prohibits mass installation on ground vehicles, he says.
The Army has a pressing need for antennas that provide data and satellite communications on the move. Weiss cites the ARLs satellite
communications on-the-move effort as an example of the services research goals and challenges. How do you replace a double
gimbaled dish antenna with a phased array that is not a budget buster or requires a refrigeration system to keep the antenna cool? he
asks. Another criteria is the ability to support enough bandwidth to manage multiple communications functions.
In addition, ARL scientists are examining metamaterials for new antenna applications. Weiss cautions that there was a great deal of hype
about metamaterials when their potential was first developed but adds that they can be effective for work on conformal vehicle antennas.
He notes that researchers are interested in one particular type of application known as artificial magnetic conductors (AMCs
