Conformal and Integrated Antennas
Conformal antenna structures integrated into aircraft, motor vehicles, and missiles have the potential to reduce weight, size, and observability through non-intrusive application. Most commercial and military aircraft contain antennas that contribute drag and weight, as the antenna structures protrude into the air stream. Even conventional conformal antenna structures generally involve housing the antenna within a radome, which is either attached to the skin of the aircraft or replaces part of the outer skin. These approaches also add weight and drag, and may cause structural debit. Using Direct Write technology, conventional antenna structures can be substituted with conformal antenna patterns deposited directly onto, or embedded within composite aerodynamic surfaces.
Conventional and state-of-the-art (fractal and genetic algorithm-based) antenna structures for different frequency bands have been fabricated via Direct Write, and their performance validated and compared with production antenna structures manufactured by conventional fabrication techniques:
- Frequency Selective Surfaces
- 4.3GHz Altimeter Antenna
- L1/L2 Band Conformal GPS Antennas
- GPS and VHF/UHF UAV Tail Antennas
- Rectifying Antennas (Rectennas) for Wireless Power Transmission
MesoScribe’s Direct Write conformal antenna manufacturing avoids many of the common installation issues associated with adapting patterns to conformal geometries. Embedded antennas are particularly important for UAV applications, where weight reduction and non-intrusive deployment are essential. This class of antennas is referred to as Conformal Load-Bearing Antenna Structure (CLAS), and MesoScribe is working with its strategic partners to develop CLAS technologies. Conformal Direct Write patterns are being deployed for Communications and Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) on UAVs and other air vehicles.
