AFRL Designs Tapered Ground Plane for SUAV Published Dec. 4, 2006 By Sensors Directorate AFRL/SN WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- AFRL scientists designed, built, and tested a tapered ground plane design. The team used an important in-house facility--namely, the Radiation and Scattering Compact Antenna Laboratory--as a resource for testing verification. The improved ground plane reduces the susceptibility of a Global Positioning System patch antenna installed on board a small unmanned air vehicle (SUAV) to interference from ground-based jamming or interference. The design also meets SUAV size and weight requirements by using window tinting film instead of more expensive composite materials.