Pasternack's New Antennas Tackle the UAV Industry's Achilles' Heel

IRVINE, CA – August 11, 2026 – The commercial drone industry is built on a foundation of remarkable innovation, but it rests on a surprisingly fragile pillar: the faint, distant signals from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) constellations. For any unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), these signals are the lifeblood of operation, providing the essential positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) data that enables everything from automated flight paths to precise data collection. Yet, as UAVs move from niche applications to mission-critical roles in public safety and industry, this reliance has become a significant vulnerability. In an increasingly crowded and contested radio frequency (RF) landscape, ensuring signal integrity is no longer an afterthought—it's a prerequisite for safe and reliable execution.

Into this environment, Infinite Electronics, a global platform of connectivity manufacturers, has introduced a new line of multi-constellation GNSS antennas from its Pasternack brand. Debuting at this year's Commercial UAV Expo, these antennas are not just another component; they represent a targeted engineering effort to harden the core of unmanned systems against a growing threat. By incorporating advanced anti-jamming technology and military-grade ruggedization, Pasternack is addressing the practical challenges that companies face when moving drone operations from pilot programs to full-scale production.

Navigating a Contested Sky

The problem Pasternack aims to solve is twofold. First, the RF spectrum is becoming more congested. Urban areas, industrial sites, and even remote infrastructure corridors are saturated with signals from cell towers, Wi-Fi networks, and other communication systems. This "unintentional" interference can easily overwhelm the weak GNSS signals reaching a UAV's receiver, leading to PNT degradation, signal loss, and potentially, a loss of control.

Second, the threat of intentional jamming is no longer a concern confined to the battlefield. Low-cost, easily accessible jamming devices can disrupt GNSS reception over a wide area. For a drone inspecting a critical pipeline, monitoring a large-scale construction site, or providing situational awareness during an emergency, such a disruption can have catastrophic consequences. The industry's rapid growth has, in effect, created a new attack surface for bad actors and a new source of operational risk for legitimate users.

"As UAV platforms are deployed in more demanding commercial, industrial and public safety applications, reliable GNSS positioning has become increasingly important," stated Gorden Cook, President & General Manager of the RF & Microwave Business Unit at Infinite Electronics, in a recent announcement. The statement underscores a fundamental shift in the market: reliability is now the paramount concern. For leaders valuing execution over hype, the theoretical capabilities of a drone mean little if it cannot perform dependably in a complex, real-world environment.

Engineering for Resilience

Pasternack's response is a solution built on multiple layers of resilience. The new antennas are not simply receivers; they are sophisticated signal protection systems. At the core of their design is multi-constellation, multi-band support. By tracking signals from a host of global systems—including the US's GPS, Europe's Galileo, Russia's GLONASS, and China's BeiDou—across multiple frequency bands (L1, L2, and L5), the antennas create inherent redundancy. If one system's signals are jammed or obstructed, the receiver can maintain a PNT lock by relying on others. This capability is the baseline for modern, high-performance navigation.

Beyond this, the antennas incorporate advanced interference mitigation technologies. According to the company, these systems are designed to suppress jamming sources originating from low-elevation angles—a common profile for ground-based jammers—while filtering out interference from adjacent frequency bands. While the specific digital signal processing algorithms are proprietary, the approach aligns with advanced techniques used in the defense sector, where anti-jamming technology has been a critical focus for decades. These techniques involve analyzing the incoming signal environment in real-time to identify and nullify hostile or interfering signals before they can corrupt the receiver's calculations.

The final piece of the puzzle is physical durability. The antennas are engineered to meet MIL-STD-810 requirements, a U.S. military standard for environmental worthiness. This isn't just about making the hardware tough; it's about ensuring consistent performance under the stresses of real-world deployment. MIL-STD-810 outlines rigorous testing protocols for vibration, shock, temperature extremes (-40°C to +71°C), humidity, and water immersion. For a UAV operating in the heat of a desert, the turbulence of a storm, or the constant vibration of an industrial facility, this level of ruggedization ensures the antenna—the vehicle's primary link to its place in the world—will not be the point of failure. This is the kind of practical, execution-focused engineering that separates pilot projects from scalable industrial solutions.

A Platform Play for the Unmanned Frontier

While the new Pasternack antennas are a significant development on their own, they also signal a broader strategic maneuver by parent company Infinite Electronics. The press release highlights that the Commercial UAV Expo booth will feature not just Pasternack, but a suite of solutions from its other specialized brands, including L-com, Transtector, PolyPhaser, and Bulgin. This portfolio covers everything from rugged networking and surge protection to sealed power and data connectors.

This is a classic platform strategy aimed at simplifying the complex task of system integration for UAV manufacturers. Building a production-grade drone involves sourcing and integrating dozens of high-performance components that must work together flawlessly. By offering a consolidated portfolio of pre-validated, interoperable connectivity solutions, Infinite Electronics is positioning itself as a key enabling partner for the entire unmanned ecosystem. It's a move to provide a unified source for the critical, and often overlooked, connective tissue that holds a modern UAV together.

This approach addresses a key pain point for engineers and program managers. Sourcing components from disparate suppliers can lead to integration challenges, supply chain vulnerabilities, and a diffusion of technical responsibility. A platform of "reliable engineered solutions," as the company describes itself, offers a streamlined path from design to deployment. In a market where speed and reliability are competitive differentiators, such a strategy can provide a significant advantage. It allows UAV developers to focus on their core competencies—aerodynamics, control systems, and sensor payloads—while relying on a trusted partner for the underlying connectivity infrastructure.

The launch of the anti-jamming GNSS antennas is the flagship of this strategy. It demonstrates a deep understanding of a critical market need and the engineering depth to address it. For leaders across industries looking to leverage drone technology, this move from component supplier to platform provider is a welcome development. It signals a maturation of the supply chain and a commitment to building the robust, reliable hardware necessary to turn the promise of unmanned systems into a practical reality. The focus is shifting from what a drone can do in a perfect lab setting to what it must do, every time, in the messy and unpredictable real world.