ABSTRACT
The contribution of radar cross section by a planar patch array with conventional ground plane increases linearly with the increase in the frequency. Instead, conformal patch arrays are known to have reduced back scattering when compared to planar configurations. The curved platform attributes toward the RCS reduction. This chapter presents the EM design and performance analysis of a conformal patch array along with hybrid HIS based ground plane toward broadband RCS reduction. The radiation and scattering characteristics of the conformal patch array are analyzed and compared with the planar patch array. Both the structural and radiation mode RCS of conformal patch array have been discussed. It is shown that there is a trade-off between the gain and extent of RCS reduction as the radius of curvature of the curved platform increases.
