TOYON RESEARCH CORPORATION — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: N162-111

TOYON RESEARCH CORPORATION — SBIR Phase I award from Department of Defense.

Amount
$80,000
Agency
Department of Defense · Navy
Program / Phase
SBIR · Phase I
Topic
N162-111
Solicitation
2016.2
NAICS
Place of performance
CA
Period
2016-10-26 → 2017-04-24

Description

Toyon proposes to design a UHF SATCOM antenna for the SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV) with the ability to switch between low-angle and high-angle gain patterns. As the mast tilts in rough seas, the antenna can be operated in a dynamic mode that selects either the low-angle or high-angle gain pattern to maintain optimal gain toward a UFO/MUOS satellite. This mitigates the gain rolloff that occurs with fixed-pattern mast antennas in real-world operational scenarios. Reflections off the sea that lead to scalloping of the gain pattern over the low elevation angles will be reduced by raising the antennas phase center to the top of the antenna when selecting the low-angle gain pattern and to the bottom of the antenna when selecting the high-angle gain pattern.