On the Design of a Manufacturable Radome for Monostatic RCS Reduction for Airborne Platforms: Practical Implications of Frequency-Selective Surfaces


Korkut N. A., Dalveren Y., KARA A., Derawi M.

Applied Sciences (Switzerland), cilt.15, sa.20, 2025 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 15 Sayı: 20
  • Basım Tarihi: 2025
  • Doi Numarası: 10.3390/app152011162
  • Dergi Adı: Applied Sciences (Switzerland)
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Aerospace Database, Agricultural & Environmental Science Database, Applied Science & Technology Source, Communication Abstracts, INSPEC, Metadex, Directory of Open Access Journals, Civil Engineering Abstracts
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: aerospace, conformal frequency selective surfaces, radar cross section, radome
  • Gazi Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Reducing the radar cross section (RCS) of airborne platforms is essential for stealth and survivability in modern defense systems. Frequency-selective surfaces (FSSs) offer band-specific transmission and reflection characteristics. Thus, they are highly suitable for radome integration. However, most of the conformal FSS radome designs proposed in the literature rely on multilayered or geometrically complex configurations. Although these designs are effective, their fabrication cost is high, which limits their practical applicability. In this study, a conformal-bandpass FSS operating in the 8–12 GHz frequency range is proposed, emphasizing both electromagnetic efficiency and manufacturability. The unit cell was designed with a simple yet effective ring–patch geometry and optimized through full-wave simulations to ensure stable bandpass behavior. The structure was then integrated into a conical radome, and its performance was evaluated by conducting monostatic RCS simulations. In this way, the scattering characteristics of the FSS-based radome were analyzed. The results demonstrate that the FSS-based radome could consistently achieve lower RCSs across the desired spectrum. Therefore, the proposed design not only reduces radar visibility but also provides a scalable and cost-effective solution. We believe that it may offer a practical pathway for next-generation low-observable radome technologies.