Satellite Signal Anti-Jamming Shield for French Rafale Fighters, Military Helicopters

The French General Directorate of Armaments (DGA) has tested a Controlled Radiation Pattern Antenna (CRPA) antenna that detects-and masks satellite signal jammers besides boosting signals received from satellite constellations.

The antenna was tested in real conditions by mounting a CRPA antenna on a helicopter and subjecting it to concentrated beams from a jammer.

Satellite signals, that provide location and navigation services to military aircraft are emitted by satellites in high orbit (around 20,000 km); they therefore arrive with reduced power and can be very easily jammed.

To allow the French armies to maintain their tactical autonomy even in the presence of jamming, the DGA is developing a CRPA 2 antenna which allows, on the one hand, to detect a jammer and to mask its signal and on the other hand to continue positioning and localization by concentrating on the signals of the satellite constellations.

Launched in 2020 by the DGA and developed by Thales AVS, this CRPA processing unit will equip a large number of army equipment, notably the Rafale fighter plane and helicopters.

For 5 days earlier this month, the DGA organized a campaign at the Valence Chabeuil airfield in the Drôme.

In order to strengthen their resilience on the battlefield, the CRPA antenna was installed in the nearby environment under the rotating rotor of 3 target helicopters: the NH90 and the Tigre, both already in service in the French Navy and the Army, and the H160 interim fleet, a helicopter of the French Navy. The CRPA antenna was able to fulfil its intended functions.