ORBIT/FR and SATIMO delivering testing chamber and multi-probe measurement system to Alenia Aeronautica

ORBIT/FR recently delivered a state-of-the-art anechoic shielded chamber facility to Alenia Aeronautica, an Italian aircraft designer/manufacturer based in Torino, Italy. The 18,000-cubic meter facility is turnkey and is designed to perform electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and high radio frequency (RF) sensitivity testing in an environment fully-protected from external noise and adverse weather conditions.
The shielded chamber’s key features include a unique, large-aperture (18 meter-wide by 8.5 meter-high) main access door, a 10-meter/30,000-kilogram turntable, absorber treatment and fire protection.
SATIMO on its side is currently producing a multi-probe array for this facility. This NF-FF Test System is an antenna measurement system (AMS) designed to measure all types of antennas on fighter aircraft inside the chamber. This system—smaller than the aircraft to be tested—is based on a highly-innovative, semi-local spherical near-field concept carried out by rotating a probe array around every antenna-under-test on-board, even below the aircraft when hoisted. The mobility of the system makes it easy to be aligned in front of each antenna-under-test, and it is removable from the chamber when used for EMC testing. The probe array’s half-arch shape allows an electronic scanning that considerably decreases the measurement time with respect to traditional AMS. The rest of the aircraft’s effect on the antenna performance is taken into account thanks to an advanced beam-tracing simulation tool that Satimo developed.
The chamber is more than capable of testing many different kinds of aircraft, spacecraft, missiles and terrain vehicles. ORBIT/FR completed the project and launched the facility in Torino in September 2008.