Contents I. Introduction
The analysis and design of conformal arrays have been of interest for a number of years. Lately, there is renewed interest in these arrays to meet the increasing demands on the performance of the radar and avionics systems of modern airborne vehicles. Potential advantages of these conformal arrays include a wide angle coverage, increase in available aperture, availability of more space to include electronics, elimination of radome-induced bore-sight error, etc. These potential advantages are particularly interesting for airborne radar applications where the platform has physical constraints yet requires high performance detection and tracking functions from the radar system. Such physical constraints include limited area available for the installation of conventional radar arrays and unique air vehicle designs consistent with today's emerging aircraft. Aircraft types subject to these physical constraints include tactical fighters, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and missiles. Radar surveillance, detection, and tracking functions require a highly directive main beam capable of scanning over large search volumes while maintaining low radiation pattern sidelobes for clutter and jammer suppression. Also important for the reduction of false targets and other interference is the elimination or reduction of radiation pattern grating lobes and crosspolarization return.
