Cobham Antenna Systems, Microwave Antennas - 250MHz to 40GHz Antennas for Defence, Tactical, EW and Surveillance Applications

European Antennas are now trading as Cobham Antenna Systems, Microwave Antennas. Same company, same technology, same people, same location.

Specialists in the design and manufacture of microwave antennas within 250MHz to 40GHz, all facilities based on one site in the UK. Designs include ultra wide-band, planar spiral, multi-octave bicones, directional, sector, collinear omni-directional antennas. Special development projects are undertaken. Antennas are used worldwide in defence, satellite, surveillance commercial industries. Applications include ground-based, UAV, airborne, Link16, point to point, point to multi-point, WiMAX, wireless LAN, radar, COFDM, mobile telecommunications, video, UWB and EW.

Antenna development projects are undertaken. Existing antenna designs can be customised. Advanced modelling tools are used prior to construction to enhance accuracy, and once built, prototypes are tested at the company's on-site spherical near-field test facility. Radiation pattern data ensures that antennas meet their quoted specification and radiation pattern envelopes. All antennas are tested throughout manufacture.

Directional antennas for defence - including data receive stations, X-band and manpack

Flat panel antennas with phased-array technology provide a slim, low profile with discreet appearance. They are rugged and fully sealed to withstand harsh weather conditions. Gains range from 7dBi to 32dBi, with sector beamwidths between 5° and 120°. Polarisation can be circular, linear or dual.

Development projects include a fully sealed, high gain, 2.3GHz sector antenna was designed for use in a ground based data receive station deployed in harsh desert conditions; an X-band (10.5GHz) vertically polarised, slim flat panel, with 28dBi gain, was designed to withstand a high level of shock, be easily deployed and is part of a large array.

Broadband antennas for defence – including discreet design, high specification, a switchable array

Robust broadband antennas are be used for ground-based and airborne systems, ECM, ESM and DF, communication in tunnels, broad bandwidth for high-speed data links, target drones and spectrum monitoring.

Development projects include a discreet broadband antenna with a high frequency range of 6GHz to 18GHz is just 2cm (1in) in diameter; a high specification antenna with a range of 400MHz to 3GHz has been designed to handle 200W CW; a switchable array provides a directional data link over the range 1.9GHz to 2.7GHz and has 6dBiC gain per sector with circular polarisation.

Omni antennas for defence - including S-band, UAV, link16, vehicle mounted

Collinear omni antennas have up to 10% bandwidth, provide up to 11dBi gain, whilst multi-octave bicones provide 2dBi gain. Circular polarisation, excellent azimuth ripple and customised elevation beam patterns combine to provide an accurate, reliable antenna for the most demanding of communication systems.

Development projects include an S-band omni antenna for a telemetry-receive station to optimize receive data from aircraft within a 120 mile radius and from 5,000ft to 50,000ft elevation; omni antennas with 4.4GHz to 5.0GHz for deployment on military vehicles and fixed installations to distribute data through a WLAN system.

Ground satcoms and space antennas

Antennas are on orbiting satellites including the UK-DMC satellite manufactured by Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL). Developments include a remote antennas for the Inmarsat R-BGAN system and a range of satcom products for THURAYA. Other projects include rugged hemi-omni antennas for weather data collection platforms.