Lightweight, High-Bandwidth Conformal Antenna System for Ballistic Helmets

Current military radio antennas for man-portable radios suffer from bandwidth, pattern, overall gain limitation and covertness. A number of helmet antenna designs will be analyzed and demonstrated in the bands of interest of 750-870 MHz, and 1350-2700 MHz. The helmet antenna solutions use conductive ink printing techniques to realize antenna elements that are conformal to the helmet's shape. The solutions are highly integrated into the helmet and other equipment on the soldier head for a helmet antenna system with negligible or no equipment weight gain. The design of the antenna system will take into account of the electromagnetic coupling of the head, torso and other soldier equipment on the performance of the antenna system. A Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) study will ensure safety or the user.