Evaluation of coaxial lightning protector for VHF antenna and its implementation in combat tank

This paper describes the necessity and evaluation methodology for a coaxial lightning protector fitted to combat tank mounted VHF radio set antennas. The technical specifications and characteristics of the coaxial lightning and surge arrester were studied in detail. A suitable modification kit to accommodate the lightning protector in the existing antenna base was designed and system engineered with complete hardwires developed at CVRDE. A fully engineered version of the VHF antenna was assembled with a lightning protector and then test evaluated in the high voltage laboratory. The test results are presented and a suitable development process for system engineering of the VHF antenna circuit and its implementation in combat tanks are discussed