The U.S. Army’s Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) has asked contractors for ideas on the feasibility of producing a 2-1/2-inch-diameter, dual-frequency GPS antenna that can be worn on an infantryman’s shoulder. The device would be used by the Army’s Land Warrior program, which plans to equip about 34,000 dismounted soldiers with high-tech gear – not only GPS, but wearable computers, radio, body armor, an eyepiece-type display and a new weapon. (The infantryman will become a weapons system).

While the Army would like to buy the miniature, active antenna off the shelf, some development work may be required, Ken Beam, a CECOM electronics engineer told our sister publication GLOBAL POSITIONING & NAVIGATION NEWS. “The problem is real estate,” he said. And, as you shrink antenna size, you may reduce antenna “gain,” the ratio of output to input, he added.