A phased array antenna adapted to be mounted in a helmet. In the
illustrative embodiment, the antenna comprises a substrate and an array
of radiating elements disposed on said substrate, each of the elements
including a-resonant cavity and a mechanism for feeding the cavity with
an electromagnetic signal., The cavity is formed in a multi-layer
structure between a ground plane and a layer of metallization. A
radiating slot or slots are provided in the layer of metallization. A
first layer of dielectric material is disposed within the cavity. The
feed mechanism is a microstrip feed disposed in the first layer of
dielectric material parallel to a plane of a portion of the substrate
over which an associated element is disposed. A layer of foam is disposed
between the layer of dielectric material and the ground plane. Second and
third parallel layers of dielectric material are included in each
element. The second layer is disposed adjacent to the ground plane. A
layer of element interconnection circuitry is disposed between the second
and third layers of dielectric material. A transmit/receive module or
circuitry for each element is secured to the third layer of dielectric
material. The substrate may be conformal or conformable, as well as
rigid. An arrangement is included for steering a beam transmitted or
received by the antenna.