Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation

William F Hoover

Timothy G Waterman

A full coverage antenna module provides radiation in 360.degree. in a weight, space and cost effective manner. The antenna module includes two back-to-back electronically scanned (.+-.60.degree.) antenna arrays and an end-fire array mounted on at least one of a top surface and a bottom surface of the module. The end-fire array is bi-directional, may be scanned by .+-.30.degree. in both of its directions, and serves as a gap filler to provide coverage not supplied by the side arrays. The end-fire array may include a plurality of rows of antenna elements, adjacent rows of which are separated by an offset width. Preferably, the antenna elements in the rows have a non-periodic inter-element spacing. The antenna elements in the end-fire array may be of different types, for example, both monopoles and dipoles may be used in the same end-fire array. If monopoles are used, they are preferably mounted on a corrugated ground plane.

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Davidsonville, MD, United States of America

William F Hoover