Review on the Innovative Structural Design of Array Antenna

Array antenna, as one kind of complex electronic equipment, has been widely applied in the fields of ground, sea, air and space as the core equipment of aerospace, air defense, and early warning detection. The mechanical structure of the antenna is not only the carrier for the electromagnetic performance, but also restricts the realization of the performance. The complex service environment and multiple types of antenna platforms have raised more demands on the structure design of the array antenna. For example, the antenna for the airborne platform faces severe restrictions on space, weight, and high-density heat dissipation, and for the missile-borne platform is subjected to high temperature ablation of the radome. Moreover, with the increase of antenna frequency and the development of structural integration, these impact and constraints have become tighter, resulting in the seriously restriction of realizing the high-performance antenna. The traditional antenna structure design concept and system architecture need to undergo significant changes in order to meet the increasing demands, as array antenna has extended its important role in more fields including 5G/6G communications, meteorological observation and satellite broadcasting. Following are some new ideas and suggestions on the key technologies of future structure design of array antenna from five aspects.