The biggest CFRP antenna in the world for communication and navigation: The Normandie Radar Project

The Normandie Project is a French program aimed at the construction of a very high performances Radar which is mounted onboard a French Navy ship. Radar applications of this kind, necessarily need a high gain Antenna dedicated to very large-range detection. Technological innovation and new materials allow to design and realize this sort of structures: the use of composite materials has now made it possible to reach a high stiffness-mass ratio. The Back-up structure, the quadripod legs and the apex have all been designed and manufactured through the use of the CFRP and other composite materials, which allowed in particular to save weight and increase the stiffness. It is also very important to qualify carefully the materials and the processes in order to obtain high performances. Technologies like hand lay-up vacuum bag, oven curing, have helped identifying the ideal solutions for big objects, like the main structure, and the quadripod legs. Thales Air System SA awarded European Industrial Engineering with the contract for the design and realization of the antenna´s main reflector. At the moment, the antenna has been assembled and successfully installed on board the navy ship, and it is efficiently operating.