Method of Manufacturing a Sparse Antenna with Reduced Mass and Radar Cross Section

Xuan Ba Trinh¹, Talgat R. Gazizov¹

¹Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics.

DOI 10.24412/2410-9916-2026-4-053-066

Full text

XML JATS

Abstract

Problem statement: modern antennas, depending on their application, may be subject to simultaneous requirements on mass and radar signature. Meanwhile, known methods for reducing the radar cross section (RCS) of antennas, as a rule, require the introduction of additional layers, structures, or special materials, i.e., they achieve the result at the cost of increasing mass and complicating the design. Therefore, it is relevant to search for methods that reduce RCS without such a cost. The purpose of the work is to present a method for manufacturing a sparse antenna based on a wire grid (WG) that ensures a simultaneous reduction of its mass and RCS, for which the authors are filing a patent. Methods used: when substantiating the technical solution and modeling its functioning in the MATLAB environment, the method of moments and the optimal current grid approximation were used. Novelty: the use of two threshold values when sparsifying the WG, which define the base and reference structures, and the additional exclusion of wires according to the criterion of their contribution to scattering when the antenna is excited by an incident wave (with linear ?-polarization) from a given set of directions. Result: using the example of a wire-grid monopole antenna, the number of ground plane wires was reduced from 1625 to 1081, i.e., the mass was reduced by a factor of 1.5, while the monostatic RCS in the direction normal to the antenna ground plane in the 2.2–10 GHz band was reduced on average by 3.85 dB (maximally by 7.38 dB), and the matching and radiation characteristics remained close to those obtained for the antenna with a full WG. Practical significance: the solution allows reducing the antenna RCS without introducing additional structures and materials, which makes it applicable in the design of antennas with stringent requirements on both mass and low observability simultaneously.

Key words

wire grid, sparse antenna, radar cross section, method of moments, mass reduction.

Reference for citation

Trinh X. B., Gazizov T. R. Method of Manufacturing a Sparse Antenna with Reduced Mass and Radar Cross Section. Systems of Control, Communication and Security, 2026, no. 4, pp. 53-66 (in Russian). DOI: 10.24412/2410-9916-2026-4-053-066

References

1. Gribkov A. S., Gribkov V. S., Gromov A. N., Kovalev S. V., Nesterov S. M., Oleinik V. M., Skorodumov I. A. Radar antenna with reduced radar cross section. Patent Russia, no. RU 2589250 C1. Publish. 10.07.2016, bul. no. 19 (in Russian).

2. Golovkov A. A., Devyatkov A. G., Kozlov S. V., Maltsev A. M., Moskalev V. Ya. Device for reducing the radar cross section of antennas. Patent Russia, no. RU 2304329 C1. Publish. 10.08.2007, bul. no. 22 (in Russian).

3. Kik M. A., Terekhova E. V., Shilyaev A. A., Zaitsev S. A., Zaitseva T. V., Salnikov V. Yu., Ragutkin A. V., Shilyaeva A. A., Kozlov K. V., Sigov A. S. Slot antenna with an absorbing coating containing nanostructured conductive semimetal filaments. Patent Russia, no. RU 2716882 C1. Publish. 17.03.2020, bul. no. 8 (in Russian).

4. Azizi Y., Soleimani M., Sedighy S. H., Matekovits L. Low-cost, low-profile wide-band radar cross section reduction using dual-concentric phase-gradient modulated surface. Electronics, 2021, vol. 10, no. 13, art. 1552. DOI: 10.3390/electronics10131552.

5. Saxena G., Awasthi Y. K., Jain P. Design of metasurface absorber for low RCS and high isolation MIMO antenna for radio location & navigation. AEU – International Journal of Electronics and Communications, 2021, vol. 133, art. 153680. DOI: 10.1016/j.aeue.2021.153680.

6. Han J., Jia D., Du B., Han G., Jia Y., Zhao Z. Design of broadband low-RCS array antennas based on characteristic mode cancellation. Electronics, 2023, vol. 12, no. 7, art. 1536. DOI: 10.3390/electronics12071536.

7. Ullah M. U., Latef T. B. A., Othman M., Hussein M. I., Alkhoori H. M., Yamada Y., Kamardin K., Khalid R. A progression in the techniques of reducing RCS for the targets. Alexandria Engineering Journal, 2024, vol. 100, pp. 153–169. DOI: 10.1016/j.aej.2024.05.001.

8. Harrington R. F. Matrix methods for field problems. Proceedings of the IEEE, 1967, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 136–149. DOI: 10.1109/PROC.1967.5433.

9. Alhaj Hasan A. F., Gazizov T. R. Method of manufacturing a wire-grid-based antenna. Patent Russia, no. RU 2814795 C1. Publish. 04.03.2024, bul. no. 7 (in Russian).

10. Alhaj Hasan A. F., Nguyen M. T., Gazizov T. R. Modelling and designing wire-grid sparse antennas using MoM-based approaches for enhanced performance and reduced cost. Microwave Review, 2023, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 83–94. DOI: 10.18485/mtts_mr.2023.29.2.10.

11. Alhaj Hasan A. F., Nguyen M. T., Kuksenko S. P., Gazizov T. R. Wire-grid and sparse MoM antennas: past evolution, present implementation, and future possibilities. Symmetry, 2023, vol. 15, no. 2, art. 378. DOI: 10.3390/sym15020378.

12. Nguyen M. T., Alhaj Hasan A. F., Gazizov T. R. Generating sparse wire-grid antennas using maximum current-based optimal current grid approximation. IEEE Open Journal of Antennas and Propagation, 2026, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 652–665. DOI: 10.1109/OJAP.2025.3543559.

13. Nguyen M. T., Gazizov T. R. Design of monopole antennas with various grounds for 2.4 GHz applications. AEU – International Journal of Electronics and Communications, 2025, vol. 202, art. 156050. DOI: 10.1016/j.aeue.2025.156050.

14. Dang T. P., Nguyen M. T., Alhaj Hasan A. F., Gazizov T. R. Generation of sparse antennas and scatterers based on optimal current grid approximation. Algorithms, 2025, vol. 18, no. 3, art. 171. DOI: 10.3390/a18030171.

15. Dang T. P., Gazizov T. R. Uosverhsentvovanie approksimatsii optimal'noi tokovoi setkoi dlia razrezhennykh rasseviaushchikh struktur [Improving the optimal current grid approximation for sparse scattering structures]. Radiotekhnika, 2025, vol. 89, no. 9, pp. 181–192. DOI: 10.18127/j00338486-202509-20 (in Russian).

16. Dang T. P., Gazizov T. R., Lukas K. S. Method of manufacturing a wire-grid-based scatterer. Patent Russia, no. RU 2868642 C1. Publish. 24.08.2026, bul. no. 24 (in Russian).

17. Altshuller G. S., Zlotin B. L., Zusman A. V., Filatov V. I. Poisk novykh idei: ot ozareniiia k tekhnologii. Teoriia i praktika resheniia izobretatel'skikh zadach [Searching for new ideas: from insight to technology. Theory and practice of inventive problem solving]. Kishinev, Kartia Moldoveniaske Publ., 1989. 381 p. (in Russian).

 This article is distributed under a license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

  The metadata of the article is distributed under a license CC0 1.0 Universal