This paper proposes an S/X-band single-layer shared-aperture array antenna for the multifunction radars of military ships. A unit cell of the proposed antenna consists of one S-band element and four X-band elements. The S- and X-band elements are printed on the same layer to prevent a blockage effect by upper elements in the stacked shared-aperture antenna. Herein, the S-band element has a mutual complementary configuration for the X-band elements. In addition, the unit cell of the proposed antenna is designed in a symmetrical structure, which can be flexibly extended to a full array configuration. To verify the antenna feasibility, antenna performances are measured in a full anechoic chamber. The fractional bandwidths of the S- and X-band elements are 13.6% and 13.4%, respectively. Moreover, in the 2 × 2 array configuration, the S-band array gain in the bore-sight direction varies from 5.4 dBi to 3.5 dBi when the main beam is steered from 0° to 45°. Under the same conditions, the measured X-band array gain in the bore-sight direction decreases from 13.4 dBi to 11.6 dBi.

In this paper, we propose a design technique for a highly durable X-band array antenna operating in the harsh maritime environment of military ships. To dramatically enhance the durability of the antenna elements, we employ a highly durable feed-pin structure consisting of a via hole, conducting pads, and an inner pin. The proposed highly durable feed-pin ensures electrical connection even when the antenna layers are damaged by strong external shocks from the vertical and horizontal directions. To verify the durability of the antenna, we performed 45 experiments, applying constant shocks to the antenna elements from the vertical and horizontal directions. Upon the application of shocks from the vertical and horizontal directions, the average bandwidth reduction rates of the antenna without a highly durable feed-pin are 51.9% and 47.7%, respectively, while the antenna equipped with the highly durable feed-pin achieved average bandwidth reduction rates of 11.3% and 14.5%, respectively, under the same conditions. These results demonstrate that the proposed antenna with a highly durable feed-pin is more resistant to external shocks than conventional antennas.

In this paper, we propose a signal intelligence (SIGINT) drone swarm system with a three-dimensional (3-D) volumetric self-complementary array configuration. In the proposed system, multiple drones form two array layers separated along the boresight direction of the system, providing sufficient spacing between drones mounting an antenna element. The antenna elements in one array layer are arranged in a complementary manner to fill empty spaces in the other layer, allowing the system to maximize the number of drones deployed within the aperture area. As a result, the effective electrical spacing at 300 MHz is reduced from 1.7λ and 0.9λ to 0.85λ and 0.45λ along the x- and y-axes, respectively. The array gains of the proposed system are 3.96 dBi, 6.40 dBi, and 15.3 dBi at 100 MHz, 200 MHz, and 300 MHz, and the side-lobe levels (SLLs) are −13.0 dB, −12.7 dB, and −13.0 dB. In addition, the proposed drone swarm SIGINT system is evaluated in a practical SIGINT environment that considers terrain features, and then the detection performance is compared with those of conventional ground-based and airborne SIGINT systems. In this SIGINT scenario, the proposed system can detect signals over an extended detection range of 150 km than those of ground-based and airborne systems.

한국전자파학회논문지 (The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science)

한국전자파학회논문지 (The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science)