An extremely lightweight fuselage-integrated phased array for airborne applications

A design of a lightweight low volume electronically scanned antenna is described. This antenna, besides being the radiating aperture, serves as a load-sharing fuselage panel in a small weight-sensitive remotely piloted vehicle (RPV). A demonstration array incorporating the microstrip radiating elements, stripline feed circuit, and microstrip-line p-i-n diode phase shifters was assembled to evaluate the electrical characteristics and scanning capabilities of the array. The demonstration array was tested on the antenna range and operated successfully as part of a radar/communication subsystem demonstration. An eight-element lightweight section of the demonstration array was subsequently designed and fabricated in a modern production facility utilizing numerically controlled machines and state-of-the-art printed circuit board etching and plating equipment. Successful operation of this lightweight section sufficiently demonstrated that a lightweight and low volume electronically steerable phase-array antenna can be fabricated and integrated into a structural panel in production quantities.