Strong electromagnetic protection design method for electronic warfare unmanned aerial vehicle
By adopting a top-down design approach, the electromagnetic compatibility problem of UAVs in strong electromagnetic environments was solved, the safety and reliability of electronic warfare UAVs were achieved, and the normal operation of navigation and data link systems was ensured.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-11-20
- Publication Date
- 2026-03-17
AI Technical Summary
The lack of systematic electromagnetic compatibility design standards for UAVs in strong electromagnetic environments has led to the functional failure of electronic warfare UAVs in complex electromagnetic environments.
A top-down design approach was adopted to determine the electromagnetic launch characteristics of the electronic warfare payload and the layout of the UAV's electronic system. An electromagnetic simulation model was established for optimization, front and back door protection designs were carried out, and integrated radio frequency management was achieved through interlocking design and spectrum planning.
It enables UAVs and electronic warfare payloads to operate compatiblely in strong electromagnetic environments, ensuring the safety and reliability of navigation and data link systems, and filling the design gap for UAVs to carry high-power, wide-band electronic warfare payloads.
Smart Images
Figure CN121683000A_ABST
Abstract
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of electromagnetic protection, electromagnetic interference, electromagnetic compatibility, and in particular to a strong electromagnetic protection design method for electronic warfare unmanned aerial vehicles. BACKGROUND
[0002] The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and can not constitute the prior art.
[0003] With the wide application of unmanned aerial vehicles in the fields of communication reconnaissance and electronic countermeasures, the task loads carried by the unmanned aerial vehicles are increasingly diversified, and the electromagnetic environment for operation is increasingly complex. In particular, the emergence of strong electromagnetic interference task loads such as communication electronic warfare systems and radar electronic warfare systems has high transmission power and wide coverage frequency bands, resulting in that the influence of the strong electromagnetic environment on the unmanned aerial vehicles changes from electromagnetic interference to electromagnetic damage, and the functions of the unmanned aerial vehicles are completely disabled. Therefore, effective strong electromagnetic protection for electronic warfare unmanned aerial vehicles can improve the survivability and task reliability of the unmanned aerial vehicles in the strong electromagnetic environment.
[0004] At present, the electromagnetic protection design includes traditional means such as electromagnetic shielding, filtering technology and grounding technology. There is no general standard or written regulation for the electromagnetic protection design of electronic warfare unmanned aerial vehicles in the strong electromagnetic environment, and potential electromagnetic compatibility problems cannot be systematically predicted and solved. SUMMARY
[0005] The purpose of the present application is to provide a top-down strong electromagnetic protection design method for electronic warfare unmanned aerial vehicles based on the project experience of unmanned aerial vehicles carrying communication electronic warfare systems and radar electronic warfare systems, aiming at the electromagnetic compatibility problems of unmanned aerial vehicles in the strong electromagnetic environment, to solve the electromagnetic compatibility problems of unmanned aerial vehicles in the strong electromagnetic environment, and to realize the compatibility of unmanned aerial vehicles and strong electromagnetic interference task loads such as electronic warfare loads.
[0006] The technical solution of the present application is as follows: A strong electromagnetic protection design method for electronic warfare unmanned aerial vehicles, comprising: determining the electromagnetic emission characteristics of the electronic warfare load and the electronic system layout scheme of the unmanned aerial vehicle; establishing an electromagnetic simulation model, simulating the electromagnetic environment after the unmanned aerial vehicle carries the electronic warfare load, and optimizing and iterating according to the electromagnetic environment simulation results inside and on the surface of the unmanned aerial vehicle to finally determine the electromagnetic environment in which each electronic device, cable and antenna of the unmanned aerial vehicle is located; comparing the sensitive threshold of the electronic device, if the threshold is higher than the electromagnetic environment, no reinforcement index needs to be allocated, and if the threshold is lower than the electromagnetic environment, the difference between the electromagnetic environment and the sensitive threshold is taken as the reinforcement index of the electronic device based on the reinforcement index For electronic equipment that needs electromagnetic protection reinforcement, according to its coupling path, carry out front door protection design and back door protection design; Through the lock design and spectrum planning to carry out comprehensive radio frequency management.
[0007] Further, the electromagnetic emission characteristics of electronic warfare payloads include: operating frequency, emission power, radiation direction.
[0008] Further, the electronic system layout scheme of the unmanned aerial vehicle includes: electronic equipment layout, cable layout, antenna layout of the unmanned aerial vehicle.
[0009] Further, an electromagnetic simulation model of the electronic warfare payload is established, and before performing electromagnetic simulation of the unmanned aerial vehicle integrated with the electronic warfare payload, the electronic warfare payload is simulated alone. Determine the electromagnetic simulation model of the unmanned aerial vehicle, when modeling the unmanned aerial vehicle, the electromagnetic parameters of the material need to be set to ensure consistency with the actual situation.
[0010] Further, the reinforcement index The formula is as follows:
[0011] Wherein: The electromagnetic environment in which the electronic equipment is located; The sensitive threshold of the electronic equipment.
[0012] Further, the front door protection design includes: Radio frequency channel protection and antenna reinforcement, radio frequency channel protection uses out-of-band filtering and in-band limiting to prevent interference signals from entering the radio frequency channel, and antenna reinforcement uses the method of setting conformal energy selection surface or frequency selection surface inside the antenna cover to prevent interference signals from entering the radio frequency channel.
[0013] Further, the back door protection design includes: Cable shielding, shell shielding, signal and power filtering, and grounding, to prevent interference signals from entering the electronic equipment through the hole and cable and then causing interference.
[0014] Further, through the lock design and spectrum planning to carry out comprehensive radio frequency management, including: According to the interference frequency band of the electronic warfare payload, determine the working mode of the unmanned aerial vehicle navigation system and data link system under each interference frequency band.
[0015] Further, it also includes: according to the electromagnetic environment obtained by simulating each electronic equipment, carry out electromagnetic compatibility test to verify the effectiveness of the electromagnetic protection design.
[0016] Furthermore, it also includes conducting full-system, full-state electromagnetic compatibility tests after the UAV completes the integration of electronic warfare payloads to verify the compatibility between the UAV and the electronic warfare payloads.
[0017] Compared with existing technologies, the advantages of this invention are: 1. Advanced nature: This invention is the first to propose a top-down design method for strong electromagnetic protection of electronic warfare drones. There have been no previous cases of drones carrying electronic warfare payloads, filling a gap in this field. 2. Innovation: This is the first time that a drone has been equipped with such a high-power, wide-band electronic warfare payload. The jamming frequency band covers all the frequency bands used by the drone. At the drone system level, comprehensive radio frequency management is carried out through lockout design and spectrum planning to ensure the safety and reliability of key systems such as drone data link and navigation. 3. Operability: Based on project experience with UAVs carrying communication electronic warfare systems and radar electronic warfare systems, this invention summarizes and outlines a strong electromagnetic protection method for UAVs carrying electronic warfare payloads, which has been implemented and verified on existing models. Attached Figure Description
[0018] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the accompanying drawings described below are only some embodiments recorded in the embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings.
[0019] Figure 1 This is an overall flowchart of a design method for strong electromagnetic protection of electronic warfare drones. Detailed Implementation
[0020] It should be noted that relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used merely to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.
[0021] The features and performance of the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to embodiments.
[0022] Example 1 When UAVs integrate payloads for strong electromagnetic interference missions such as electronic warfare, the payloads are concentrated in the payload bay, especially the jamming transmission section, while ensuring electromagnetic isolation between the payload bay and the UAV platform. However, due to the high transmission power of the payloads and the generally unsatisfactory out-of-band suppression and harmonic suppression of wideband payloads, the electromagnetic environment in which UAVs operate is complex and harsh. Therefore, effective strong electromagnetic protection for UAVs is both necessary and essential.
[0023] This invention proposes a design method for strong electromagnetic protection of electronic warfare drones. The invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The overall flowchart is as follows. Figure 1 As shown, it includes the following steps: (1) Determine the electromagnetic launch characteristics of the electronic warfare payload and the electronic system layout scheme of the UAV. This layout design is the initial design scheme of the UAV and will be iteratively optimized according to the simulation results. Specifically, the electromagnetic launch characteristics include: operating frequency, transmission power, radiation direction, etc. The electronic system layout scheme of the UAV includes: electronic equipment layout, cable layout, and antenna layout of the UAV.
[0024] (2) Establish an electromagnetic simulation model to simulate the electromagnetic environment of the UAV after it is equipped with electronic warfare payload. Optimize and iterate based on the simulation results of the electromagnetic environment inside and on the surface of the UAV body, and finally determine the electromagnetic environment of each electronic device, cable and antenna of the UAV. Specifically, an electromagnetic simulation model of the electronic warfare payload should be established. Before conducting electromagnetic simulation of the integrated electronic warfare payload of the UAV, a separate electromagnetic simulation of the electronic warfare payload should be performed. The simulation results should be basically consistent with its actual electromagnetic emission characteristics to ensure the accuracy of the simulation model. The electromagnetic simulation model of the UAV needs to be determined. The model only needs to retain the external skin and the main structure. The material of the UAV skin is generally carbon fiber composite material or aluminum alloy, and the main structure is generally aluminum alloy. When modeling the UAV, the electromagnetic parameters of the materials need to be set to ensure that they are consistent with reality. In this embodiment, it should be noted that the relative positions of the UAV and electronic warfare payload should be kept consistent with the actual installation positions during system electromagnetic simulation. Electromagnetic environment simulation should be performed on the installation positions of key locations such as flight control system, electrical system, navigation antenna, and data link antenna. The electromagnetic environment in which the electronic equipment is located should be determined according to the layout of the electronic equipment. If the electromagnetic environment of electronic devices is poor, their layout can be optimized or the structure design of the UAV can be optimized, and simulation can be performed again to obtain the optimal layout design and the optimal electromagnetic environment of each electronic device of the UAV.
[0025] (3) Compare the sensitivity thresholds of electronic devices (i.e., compare the simulated electromagnetic environment with the sensitivity thresholds of each electronic device). If the threshold is higher than the electromagnetic environment, no hardening index needs to be assigned; if the threshold is lower than the electromagnetic environment, the difference between the electromagnetic environment and the sensitivity threshold is used as the hardening index of the electronic device. ; In this embodiment, specifically, the reinforcement indicators Calculated using the following formula:
[0026] in: Electromagnetic environment of electronic equipment, unit: W / cm 2 ; Sensitivity threshold of electronic devices, unit: W / cm² 2 .
[0027] In this embodiment, it should be noted that the impact of the electromagnetic environment on electronic devices is divided into front-door coupling and back-door coupling based on the different coupling paths. Front-door coupling occurs when interference signals are coupled into the radio frequency channel through the antenna, mainly interfering with the low-noise amplifier at the radio frequency front end. Back-door coupling occurs when interference signals enter the device through openings, cables, etc., mainly interfering with the internal circuitry of the electronic device. Therefore, the sensitivity threshold of the electronic device needs to be determined according to its coupling method.
[0028] (4) Based on reinforcement indicators For electronic devices that require electromagnetic protection reinforcement, front door protection design and back door protection design should be carried out based on their coupling path. Front-door protection design primarily targets the antenna system, mainly including RF channel protection and antenna hardening. The main technical means of RF channel protection are limiting and filtering, specifically adding limiters and filters to the RF front end. For out-of-band rejection, bandpass filters are preferred. For in-band rejection, depending on the required protection and hardening specifications, limiters, limiters + filters, or even multi-level protection can be selected, such as using multiple limiters together ("first-level limiter + second-level limiter + ...") or "first-level limiter + first-level filter + second-level limiter + second-level filter + ...", etc. Antenna hardening mainly involves adding an radome, which can be fitted with conformal energy selective surfaces or frequency selective surfaces (MSS) made of artificial materials. Generally, due to the higher cost of antenna hardening, RF channel protection is prioritized for front-door protection, with antenna hardening serving as a supplementary measure. The rear-door protection design primarily targets electronic devices without antennas, mainly including cable shielding, housing shielding, signal and power filtering, and grounding. Cable shielding mainly uses anti-wave sleeves to electromagnetically shield the cables, ensuring the continuity of the shielding layer throughout the entire line, and the connection between the shielding layer and the tail accessory must be 360°. Housing shielding mainly uses conductive gaskets, conductive rubber, etc., to fill gaps at the connection surfaces between the equipment housing and aviation connectors, as well as at connection surfaces of different parts of the equipment, ensuring the electrical continuity of the equipment housing and improving the shielding effectiveness. Signal and power filtering is designed before the cables enter the equipment, mainly by adding protective modules, which can be transient suppression devices, filters, isolation transformers, magnetic rings, or combined pulse filters, etc. Grounding mainly involves using isolated power modules for the equipment power module to ensure isolation between the primary power ground and the secondary power ground, and the internal secondary power ground should be designed as a floating ground, etc.
[0029] (5) For wideband mission payloads such as electronic warfare and radar electronic warfare, their interference frequency bands may cover all the frequency bands used by the UAV. Due to the size of the UAV, the isolation between antennas is insufficient, which leads to frequency conflicts and interference problems. The most critical frequency-using equipment of the UAV is the navigation system and the data link system. The navigation system generally adopts an inertial / satellite combined navigation system and is equipped with high-precision inertial navigation equipment and satellite navigation anti-jamming equipment. The data link system generally adopts a redundancy design, with each link working independently and serving as a backup for each other. Based on the interference frequency band of the electronic warfare payload, comprehensive radio frequency management is carried out through blocking design and spectrum planning. The usage strategies of the data link system and the navigation system are as follows to ensure the safety and reliability of the UAV navigation system and the data link system when the electronic warfare payload interferes with the transmission. Table 1. Usage Strategies for Data Link Systems and Navigation Systems
[0030] (6) After the electronic equipment has completed electromagnetic protection and hardening, electromagnetic compatibility tests shall be carried out according to the electromagnetic environment obtained by simulation. The interference source shall be the actual mission load. The interference frequency band, interference pattern, transmission power, etc. shall be consistent. The test level of the electromagnetic environment shall be obtained by adding 6dB to the electromagnetic environment obtained by simulation, so as to ensure that the electronic equipment has a certain safety margin. The electromagnetic environment shall be determined by adjusting the orientation and distance of the electronic equipment relative to the electronic warfare load.
[0031] (7) After the UAV completes the integration of electronic warfare payloads, conduct full-system, full-state electromagnetic compatibility tests. The test conditions are divided into three conditions: ground power supply, ground engine start-up, and flight. The tests should be carried out in sequence. During ground tests, absorbing materials should be laid as needed to minimize the impact of ground reflections. The compatibility between the UAV and the electronic warfare payloads is verified through electromagnetic compatibility tests under the three conditions.
[0032] With this, the strong electromagnetic protection for electronic warfare drones was completed.
[0033] The embodiments described above merely illustrate specific implementation methods of this application, and while the descriptions are detailed and specific, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of this application. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and improvements without departing from the concept of the technical solution of this application, and these modifications and improvements all fall within the scope of protection of this application.
[0034] This background section is provided to generally present the context of the invention. The work of the currently named inventors, the work to the extent described in this background section, and aspects of this section that did not constitute prior art at the time of application are neither expressly nor impliedly acknowledged as prior art to the invention.
Claims
1. An electronic warfare unmanned aerial vehicle strong electromagnetic protection design method, characterized in that, Comprise: Determine the electromagnetic emission characteristics of electronic warfare payload and the electronic system layout scheme of UAV; Establish electromagnetic simulation model, simulate the electromagnetic environment of UAV after carrying electronic warfare payload, and optimize iteration according to the simulation results of electromagnetic environment inside and outside the UAV body, finally determine the electromagnetic environment of each electronic device, cable and antenna of UAV; Compared with the sensitivity threshold of the electronic device, if the threshold is higher than the electromagnetic environment, no reinforcement index needs to be allocated; if the threshold is lower than the electromagnetic environment, the difference between the electromagnetic environment and the sensitivity threshold is taken as the reinforcement index of the electronic device ; Based on reinforcement index For electronic equipment requiring electromagnetic protection reinforcement, front door protection design and back door protection design are carried out according to its coupling path. Comprehensive radio frequency management through lockout design and spectrum planning.
2. The electronic warfare unmanned aerial vehicle strong electromagnetic protection design method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The electromagnetic emission characteristics of electronic warfare payload include: working frequency, transmission power, radiation direction.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The electronic system layout scheme of UAV includes: electronic device layout, cable layout, antenna layout of UAV.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein, Establish electromagnetic simulation model of electronic warfare payload, before the electromagnetic simulation of UAV integrated with electronic warfare payload, carry out separate electromagnetic simulation of electronic warfare payload; Determine the electromagnetic simulation model of UAV, when modeling, the electromagnetic parameters of materials need to be set to ensure consistency with the actual situation.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein, Strengthening index is calculated by the following equation: Wherein: the electromagnetic environment in which the electronic device is located; sensitive threshold of the electronic device.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein, Front door protection design includes: Radio frequency channel protection and antenna reinforcement, radio frequency channel protection uses out-of-band filtering and in-band limiting to prevent interference signals from entering the radio frequency channel, and antenna reinforcement uses the method of setting conformal energy selection surface or frequency selection surface in the antenna cover to prevent interference signals from entering the radio frequency channel.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein, Rear door protection design includes: Cable shielding, shell shielding, signal and power filtering and grounding, to prevent interference signals from entering the electronic device through the hole and cable and then causing interference.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein, Comprehensive radio frequency management through lockout design and spectrum planning includes: According to the interference frequency band of electronic warfare payload, determine the working mode of UAV navigation system and data link system under each interference frequency band.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein, Also includes: According to the electromagnetic environment obtained by simulating each electronic device, carry out electromagnetic compatibility test to verify the effectiveness of the electromagnetic protection design.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein, Also includes: After the completion of electronic warfare payload integration, carry out full system full state electromagnetic compatibility test to verify the compatibility of UAV and electronic warfare payload.