The vertical stabilizers in NASA's F/A-18 Systems Research Aircraft are no longer mirror images of each other. A new "Smart Skin" antenna mounted on the tip of the right vertical fin of the modified F/A-18 aircraft showed remarkable results in its first flight tests at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The recent tests of the new antenna system demonstrated a five-fold increase in voice communications range and a substantial improvement in the pattern of radiation and quality of transmission compared to the standard dorsal blade antenna on Dryden's F/A-18 Systems Research Aircraft. The Smart Skin antenna system is electrically as well as physically connected to the airframe, making the aircraft skin operate as an antenna along with the antenna itself. The concept was developed by TRW Avionics Systems Division and integrated into the F/A-18's vertical fin by Northrop-Grumman Corporation.
