Enig Associates, Inc. (ENIG) is proposing a compact VLF transmitter system for Air Force applications and for dual-use applications for Navy, Army, and the commercial market. The proposed VLF transmitter can be combined with a current state-of-the-art, compact, and sensitive magnetic VLF receiver to enable two-way communications in many Air Force applications including nuclear forces communications and space applications of space-vehicle-launched VLF wave transmitter. The proposed system is composed of a compact plasma antenna with an output signal strength scalable with antenna length and modulated beam current. Power consumption is significantly less than conventional radiative land-based VLF antennas since the proposed system has negligible radiative power loss. The data throughput is significantly higher than the conventional land-based VLF transmitter, because the proposed VLF transmitter signal is generated by streaming electrons in the vacuum tube with fast response time. ENIG proposes to design, build, and test a VLF transmitter under vacuum for the proof-of-concept in Phase I and deliver a scaled-up system in Phase II for full demonstration.
