While antenna systems on naval vessels have always played a crucial role in national defense, they are constantly evolving to keep pace with the growing complexity of military operations and the emergence of new threats. Technological innovation and the growing need for secure, efficient communications capabilities are at the heart of this transformation. Expert in the design, manufacture, installation and maintenance of antennas and radomes in operational conditions for Ineo Defense, an Equans France entity, has been providing air-land-sea applications for over 30 years, equipping the French Navy's most sensitive naval vessels. It is a historic link in the French defense system, and a key partner for manufacturers in the sector. Pierre Besnard, Head of Antennas & Radomes at Ineo Defense, explains.
What are the challenges involved in supplying antenna systems to the naval military today?
Used to transmit and/or receive electromagnetic signals, these systems play a strategic role in the military field: they enable secure information exchange between different players, whether land, air or sea-based, regardless of their location and the degree of hostility of the environment; they ensure precise, secure navigation at sea; and they detect threats to protect ship systems.
Today's environment is marked by major technological developments and an increase in the number of intelligence and communication sources (satellites, radar, drones, etc.), presenting both opportunities and risks for military defense systems. The increasing quality of images and videos, and the need to communicate more and more information between different players spread across the globe, require ever greater data throughput. To meet this demand, the number of satellites is increasing, and the latest-generation satellites are using ever-higher frequencies, enabling unprecedented data volume and quality. The ability of antenna systems to pick up or transmit the most reliable and exhaustive information possible, and to do so instantaneously, has never been so crucial to rapid, effective intervention on the world stage.
What are the technical challenges specific to the maritime and military environment?
On military surface ships, the space available for integrating antenna systems is very limited, and environmental conditions are severe. In addition to weight issues, they have to withstand a wide range of stresses, such as hail, frost, snow, sand, constant humidity, salt spray, extreme winds and temperatures, heavy seas, and even shocks to withstand a nearby explosion or nuclear blast, for example.
At the same time, to keep pace with exponential communication needs, antenna systems are becoming more flexible, and are constantly being optimized so as to be able to work in several frequency bands simultaneously, while minimizing interference from one band to another. This is a decisive challenge for the defense sector, and DITB* companies are tackling it with parabolic antenna solutions. multifrequencycovering a wide frequency spectrum, from 3 GHz to 31 GHz (C-band to Ka-band). Precise dimensioning of these antennas' components to guarantee their performance and mechanical resistance to environmental conditions, without increasing their weight, requires in-depth expertise in both mechanics and microwave frequencies. With this in mind, and to facilitate deployment and maintenance, our experts have developed parabolas** that can be made of carbon and/or split into several petals, for easy assembly and disassembly.
Faced with these challenges, the radomes covering the antennas - the design, manufacture and electromagnetic qualification of which is one of Ineo Defense's strengths - are key to protecting the less robust antenna from the various aggressions mentioned above, and can also add ballistic protection (shielding). Our experts keep a constant watch on new composite materials, characterizing and selecting them so as to be able to manufacture antennas and radomes that are both lightweight and robust, while optimizing their electromagnetic performance. Over the past 30 years, our employees have manufactured several hundred custom-made military and civilian antennas and radomes for air-land-sea applications all over the world.
What are the prospects?
At a time when potential threats are multiplying and technologies are evolving, antenna systems are more than ever the guarantors of National Defense, at the forefront of technology. In the years to come, they will continue to advance to support ever-higher data rates, integrate cutting-edge technologies, and grow in flexibility and resilience.
From an industrial standpoint, the need to integrate several frequency bands into a single antenna system with the same footprint, while limiting weight, calls for the use of new manufacturing technologies. Whereas machining parts used to be the norm, the increasing frequency of antennas calls for new tailor-made manufacturing processes, with increasingly sophisticated, lightweight, compact and one-piece parts that cannot be produced using traditional techniques. By way of illustration, the precision required to manufacture certain antenna components is now approaching the micron. Additive manufacturing makes it possible to manufacture several antenna components in a single block, thus avoiding assembly inaccuracies and reducing overall weight. The innovation also has the advantage of producing parts that are less costly and bulky, lighter and more precise, while benefiting from reduced manufacturing lead times.
Another key issue for the future of the industry revolves around the availability of these systems, which must be adapted to the mission profiles of each ship. In this context, at Ineo Defense, we carry out studies on operational safety and integrated logistical support, enabling us to define maintenance policies that optimize overall costs while guaranteeing system availability. It is important to have the means to intervene throughout the product life cycle, from design to maintenance in operational conditions, right through to the dismantling phase.
*BITD: the Defense Industrial and Technological Base (BITD) groups together all the defense companies that contribute to the design and production of equipment for the armed forces. The Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA) is at the heart of the BITD.
**parabola: in an antenna system, a parabola, or parabolic reflector, is used to capture and concentrate electromagnetic signals, such as those from satellites. The parabolic shape of the reflector allows the received waves to be focused on a specific point called the focal point.
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Laure de Longevialle : +33 (0)6 62 34 71 77 - laure.de-longevialle@external.equans.com
About the Group and Equans France
Rooted in more than a century of history, the Equans group, a subsidiary of the Bouygues group, is a world leader in the energy and services sector. In France, thanks in particular to Ineo, Axima and Bouygues Energies & Services, it has a high territorial density synonymous with proximity. Its 35,000 employees in France support their customers in improving and optimizing their equipment, systems and technical processes in order to meet the challenges of a triple transition: energy, industrial and digital. Equans mobilizes a high level of expertise and technology, with the ambition of making a significant contribution to a low-carbon and resilient world. Electrical engineering, HVAC, refrigeration, fire safety, facility management, IT and telecommunications, digital solutions: Equans' complementary expertise is deployed in France through a unique combination of multi-technical skills for design, construction and installation projects, as well as for operation and maintenance services.
Established in 20 countries, with 90,000 employees working on 5 continents and annual 2023 sales of 18.8 billion euros, the Equans group connects, produces, supplies and protects energy and data for territories, cities, buildings, plants and infrastructures every day. In line with this dynamic, its subsidiary Equans France achieved sales of 7.1 billion euros in 2023 and operates in nearly 30 different countries.
