CRPA Anti-Jamming Antennas: Protecting UAVs, Autonomous Vehicles, And Critical Infrastructure From Signal Interference

In today’s cities, skies and roads, GNSS is everywhere – from small UAVs and autonomous robots to connected vehicles and critical infrastructure. Yet as the spectrum becomes more crowded and intentional or unintentional interference increases, ordinary GNSS antennas can no longer guarantee stable positioning and navigation.

To address this challenge, CRPA (Controlled Reception Pattern Antenna) anti-jamming technology is rapidly becoming a key building block for civil and industrial systems that depend on reliable GNSS. Instead of passively receiving signals from all directions, a CRPA antenna uses multiple elements and advanced spatial processing to “listen” to satellites while suppressing interference sources.

Why GNSS-reliant systems are increasingly at risk

Civil UAVs, autonomous vehicles, survey equipment and communication base stations often operate in complex RF environments:

• Urban canyons with strong multipath and local transmitters

• Industrial sites with broadband noise and impulsive interference

• Areas where low-cost jammers and repeaters may accidentally or deliberately be used

In these scenarios, a standard single-element GNSS antenna (FRPA) has no way to distinguish between useful satellite signals and interference coming from different directions. Once the interference-to-signal ratio exceeds a certain threshold, the receiver may lose lock, drift, or even output wrong positions.

How CRPA anti-jamming antennas work

A CRPA antenna array consists of multiple GNSS antenna elements arranged in a specific geometry (e.g. 4, 8 or 16 elements). Each element receives a slightly different version of the GNSS and interference signals. Through digital beamforming and null-steering algorithms, the system can:

• Form “beams” toward the satellites of interest

• Place “nulls” (deep attenuation) in the directions of interference sources

• Maintain high signal-to-interference ratios even when several jammers are present

In practical terms, this means the receiver continues to work in environments where a traditional antenna would already be blind. For example, our current generation of CRPA antennas can achieve up to 110 dB suppression for a single broadband interferer and around 95 dB for three interferers, depending on model and configuration.

Designed for civil UAVs, vehicles and infrastructure

Modern civil and industrial platforms have strict requirements on size, weight, power and integration. To meet these needs, our CRPA anti-jamming antenna family offers:

1. Multiple array sizes and element counts

• Compact 4-element models (50 mm / 65 mm) for small UAVs and space-constrained devices

• 8-element and 16-element arrays for more demanding interference environments and larger platforms

2. Wide GNSS support

• GPS L1, BeiDou B1 and Galileo E1 as standard

• Optional support for GLONASS G1 and dual-band configurations such as L1+L2 or L1+L5, depending on the model

3. Civil-grade environmental robustness

• Typical operating temperature from −40 °C to +65/70 °C

• IP65 or higher protection rating, with options for IP67/IP68 if required

At the same time, compact 4-element models typically weigh under 200 g and consume ≤6 W at 9–36 V DC, which is particularly important for battery-powered UAVs and mobile robots.

All-in-one units and flexible system integration

Depending on your architecture, you can use our CRPA solutions in two main ways:

1. CRPA antenna array + your own GNSS receiver

• The anti-jamming antenna outputs RF signals (typically −55 to −70 dBm, 50 Ω, VSWR ≤2.0) after amplification and spatial filtering

• Your GNSS receiver then performs baseband processing and positioning

2. Integrated anti-jamming unit with built-in receiver

• The unit includes the CRPA array, anti-jamming processing module and GNSS receiver in one compact housing

• It can directly output position / velocity / time (PVT) data via common interfaces such as RS-232 / RS-422 and NMEA-0183

This flexibility allows civil system integrators to choose between minimal changes to existing designs (RF-level integration) or a more plug-and-play approach with PVT outputs.

Civil applications where CRPA makes a difference

Typical use cases where we see strong demand from civil and industrial customers include:

• UAVs for inspection, mapping, logistics and environmental monitoring

• Autonomous and connected vehicles operating in dense urban areas

• Robotic platforms in factories, ports and mining environments

• Critical infrastructure such as base stations, timing nodes and monitoring systems

In all of these scenarios, maintaining reliable GNSS under interference is not just a “nice to have” – it is essential for safety, regulatory compliance and service quality.

If your current projects are beginning to encounter GNSS dropouts, unexplained positioning jumps or susceptibility to local interference, it may be the right time to consider a CRPA-based anti-jamming antenna. Our team would be glad to discuss your specific use case and recommend a suitable 4-, 8- or 16-element solution.