Far-Field Radiation Variations of the TACAMO Antenna with the Aircraft Orbiting

The TACAMO system of US Navy releases two antenna cables from the aircraft platform to form a V -shaped dipole antenna with unequal length. Theoretical research and experiments show that with the aircraft orbiting, the field strength radiated by the TACAMO antenna will fluctuate periodically. In this paper, the earth-ionosphere waveguide model is used to establish the very low-frequency (VLF) radio wave propagation calculation code of the TACAMO antenna. The variety characteristics of the radiation field strength at different distances with different antenna verticality when the aircraft is circling around the orbit are analyzed, which provides a basis for evaluating the radiation efficiency of the system.