Embedded Antennas For Tactical Military Applications

By James O'Keeffe, Ph.D., PE, Business Development Manager, Antennas and Enclosures, TE Connectivity

Today’s military radios are challenged to keep pace with the rapidly evolving world of consumer wireless products. There is an ongoing demand for higher bandwidth in both consumer and military radios. The battlefield is becoming a more information-rich environment with increased emphasis on multiplatform radio communication between soldiers, UAVs, satellites, and command centers. Information goes far beyond voice communications to include imagery, video to the front lines, data, and even Internet access. In recent years, programs such as Advanced Wireless Networks for the Soldier (AWNS) and the Joint Battle Command-Platform (JBC-P) handheld have aimed to equip soldier squads with higher bandwidth smartphone-like capabilities. One challenge to providing higher bandwidth to military radios is the absence of a network of base stations in most cases, coupled with environments ranging from deserts to cluttered urban environments. To adapt to this range of operating conditions, software-defined military radios employ multiple radio waveforms, frequency hopping, and transmit powers in the range of 50 W.