Printed Wideband Metamaterial Antennas for Ballistic Panels

The U.S. Navy has initiated a program to develop the next-generation Joint Counter Radio Controlled Improvised Explosive Device Electronic Warfare (JCREW) 3.3 system to detect and jam enemy improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The objective of this proposed effort is to develop the manufacturing processes and antenna designs needed to integrate a wideband metamaterial antenna within the ballistic panel composite materials of Navy platforms, such as ship superstructure or Marine Corps vehicles, through analysis, modeling, testing, and prototyping. Our approach will be to build a metamaterial antenna directly into the ballistic panel composite material, resulting in an efficient, low-profile antenna structure that will not compromise the ballistic resistance of the panel. The proposed team combines antenna design and characterization expertise at the University of Tennessee and Villanova University with the composite material and printed electronics expertise at Applied Nanotech, Inc, and Armortex (ballistic panel manufacturer).