Helicopters play a vital support role for ship, air and ground forces, however their effectiveness has traditionally been hampered with single-band passive antennas that provide limited communication range and coverage.

With assistance from the Air Force Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) Program, Colorado-based FIRST RF Corp. expanded the potential surveillance capabilities of helicopters by developing a multi-band active antenna that requires no special configuration planning prior to launch.

The new antenna – which can receive and transmit to all assets on the battlefield – is being touted as the first full-motion video antenna suite. It offers greater directivity and four active bands with the ability to switch communications between ground, ship or air nodes during flight.