Selecting the Best Aircraft Antenna for Military Applications
Aircraft antenna applications can range from large aircraft, to small unmanned aerial vehicle vehicles.
The aircraft's operating height is a key factor in selecting the right antenna, as ruggedness at high altitude
is necessary for operational use.
The aircraft's operating speed is another key factor, as it impacts how the aircraft
antenna should be designed and manufactured for operational use.
Ideally an aircraft's antenna's performance would be largely invariant to the type of
installation, making it equally suitable for installation on composite, non-conducting
skin aircraft (without the "ground plane") and metallic/conducting skin aircraft.
The best aircraft antenna typically also would not require the use of impedance transformers, baluns or a ground plane.
Selecting an ultra wideband aircraft antenna requires information on the available space
(height and diameter) and maximum weight.
A well designed ultra wideband antenna can
achieve the maximum possible frequency range coverage within a given volume and weight.
The low end of the frequency range is typically determined by the antenna height and
the high end is typically determined by the connector type. The antenna's frequency range
is defined by the voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) being < 3. With an ultra wideband
antenna, the ratio of the high end frequency to the low end frequency is 10:1 or greater.
For aircraft antennas, an ultra wideband aircraft antenna can be advantageous,
in that you can transmit and receive throughout all narrowband frequencies of interest with a single antenna.
This enables minimizing the space and weight required on the platform, simplifies system integration/upgrade/maintenance,
and reduces the platform’s visual and radar signature.
Ultra wideband aircraft antennas which are also very lightweight can be highly advantageous
for weight sensitive platforms and applications, such as UAVs. Also, with a true ultra wideband (time non-dispersive)
aircraft antenna, you can also transmit and receive impulse type signals, so that your platform can
transmit and receive (and conduct information warfare applications on) future/next-generation signals,
as well as conventional narrowband signals. Although in the past antennas have been a limiting
factor for system performance, that is no longer the case with today’s ultra wideband aircraft
antennas, which enable high-performance transmit and receive of a wide variety of signals.
