Near vertical incidence skywave antenna examination

The US Marine Corps required near vertical incidence skywave mode antennas for mobile communication. Upon examination of potential antennas for the mobile application, short whip configurations using the standard whip, and loop antennas surfaced as the primary candidates to be examined. The authors briefly review the modeling efforts undertaken in the early phases of the study, followed by discussions of the antenna radiation pattern characterization technique and link performance. They concentrate on the 16 foot whip antenna, and in particular the forward tilted whip