For safety of operation, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle personnel require a Situation Display that shows the position of the UAV and other aircraft in the area. For field operations the system must be manportable. The cost of the system must be affordable for this purpose. I-Comm, in cooperation with its partner Allied Signal Aerospace, has outlined a comprehensive Phase I project that will develop a Situation Display that is suitable for use by UAV operators in a field environment. The team has selected an existing interrogator/processor for the system and has identified a number of small commercial phased array antennas that may be adapted to meet the operational requirements. The major part of this effort addresses antenna selection, evaluation, and adaptation to meet the required operational capabilities and interface to the existing interrogator/processor. Additionally, modifications to existing software for display of the desired information on a laptop PC will be determined. The system configuration will allow augmentation for enhanced future capabilities.
