Experimental verification of a MoM-based efficient design approach to direction finding antenna arrays

Communications Electronic Support Measure (CESM) systems operating in the VHF and UHF bands have been typically based on arrays designed accordingly to regular geometries. Uniform Circular Arrays (UCAs) are common and well-established examples but not applicable in all possible cases due to installation constraints. Irregular geometries may be exploited for such cases yet their design process is mainly a matter of "Trial and Error" attempts, aided by the designers' personal experience. In this contribution, a new design methodology supported by fast full wave simulations by Method of Moments (MoM) is described, aiming at reducing dramatically the time needed to find an effective solution to the installation problem.