Morphing Liquid Metal Antennas for Next-Gen Military UAVs

One of the challenges the military faces is communications between different aircraft systems.  For example, attack helicopters and F-22 stealth fighters use entirely different radio frequency (RF) systems that do not speak to each other. Morphing antennas are part of the solution for enabling communications between aircraft using incompatible radio frequencies. As reported in DEFENSETECH News at Military.com, a copper antenna is shown "printed directly onto the surface" of a MQ-9 reaper’s flap servo cover.

Photo of copper-retrofit antenna printed on surface of MQ-9 Servo Cover courtesy of Oriana Pawlyk.  MQ-9 Reaper photo courtesy of General Atomics.