Ultra-wideband, zero visual signature RF vest antenna for man-portable radios

This paper presents the recent research of the COMbat Wear INtegration (COMWIN) RF vest antenna initially presented at MILCOM2000. This version of the ultra-wideband VHF/UHF (30 MHz to 500 MHz) vest antenna, designated as MK-III, is integrated into the existing dismounted marine/soldier kevlar flak vest and has no visual signature. This antenna is one of the three COMWIN antennas developed at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) for joint tactical radio system applications. The improved MK-III RF vest was designed using Ansoft's high frequency structure simulator (HFSS) software. This design accounts for the operator wearing the flak jacket, the MOLLE pack system and the radio (radio dimensions based on SlNCGARS man-portable radio). Several prototypes have been built at NPS and exhibit encouraging agreement with computer simulations.