An AMC-based low-RCS conformal phased array design

Abstract In this article, an integrated radiation and scattering performance array conformed with the cylinder is presented. Wideband RCS reduction can be achieved and the radiating performance is maintained without loading any other structures. Two different antenna units with similar radiation performances and different reflection phases are designed to form a 6 × 6 conformal array. To verify the simulation results, a prototype of a 6 × 6 units integrated conformal array was fabricated and measured. The experimental results show that the proposed conformal array has better scanning performance above ±40° in the range of 8.2–11.3 GHz. In addition, the monostatic RCS reduction of the proposed array is more than 5 dB covering the working band of the array antenna with a maximum reduction value of 24.2 dB. The measured results agree well with the simulation results.