Research on vibration control and structure integration of antennas in NATO/RTO/SET-131

Integration of antennas into ground, air or water vehicles is a critical task due to the increasing number of RF and microwave systems used for communication, radar or ESM. Structural aspects such as mechanical or thermal stability, aerodynamics or outer appearance are of great importance. Methods and technology for the integration of single antennas or antenna arrays into structures of different type (e.g. glass or carbon fibre composite materials) are currently being developed at different companies and research institutes and are scope of research work in the NATO task group SET-131. The performance of a system should not be affected by the influence of the carrier platform or by electromagnetic interaction between different systems. Another important aspect are variations of the shape of a vehicle or its parts which may also degrade the overall system performance. There are different reasons for these changes, e.g. vehicle motion, moving parts such as rudders or turbines, or the impact of a projectile or collision.