Ball Aerospace to Develop Prototype Antenna for U.S. Navy Guided Missile Destroyers

Ball Aerospace has been selected by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to develop a prototype of a new multi-band, low-observable satellite communications antenna to be installed on the U.S. Navy’s newest stealth ships, the DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class destroyers.

Ball is leveraging its portfolio of electronically steerable phased array antenna technologies and high-performance stealth technologies to design a solution that can operate over multiple frequency bands, meet existing signature requirements and integrating them into the DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer.

Dr. Jake Sauer, vice president and general manager, Tactical Solutions, Ball Aerospace, commented that their multi-band, multi-beam phased array heritage and conformal antenna expertise directly supports the warfighter by addressing emerging threats and taking on new missions.

The selection of Ball to produce the new antenna prototype is part of DIU’s Multi-Domain Tactical Communications (MDTC) program. Under the MDTC effort, Ball will develop the antenna architecture, beamforming approach and prototype.

Ball has five decades of experience designing and building electronically steerable phased array antenna systems for the U.S. military, enabling mission-critical communications for the warfighter. The company’s experience covers a variety of frequencies (including L, S, X, Ku, K, and Ka-band) and applications, from aviation and maritime to land and space. Lightweight, low profile and with no moving parts, Ball’s phased array antennas provide numerous benefits over traditional dish antennas, including a modular design to enable scalable solutions and fast, seamless, and accurate steering and tracking between satellites for reliable connectivity.