Objectives  In order to meet the different performance requirements of ship-based integrated RF antennae for next-generation surface warships, such as high performance, low scattering and hull conformance, an optimization method for a conformal antenna combining the electromagnetic simulation and intelligent optimization methods is presented and applied in the design of an embedded array with a specific frequency band.

  Methods  By improving the traditional particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm asynchronously and incrementally, discrete variables and continuous variables are processed at the same time, effectively accelerating the convergence speed of the PSO. Aiming at a VHF antenna on a surface ship, the objective function of the multi-dimensional parameter optimization of the complex antenna structure is constructed, and the semi-embedded installation forms of the synchronous optimization of multi-objective characteristics such as antenna gain, standing wave ratio and radar cross section （RCS） are obtained.

  Results  After several rounds of simulation and iterative optimization, the antenna gain is increased by about 1 dB, the standing wave ratio is slightly improved and the RCS peak point reduction of the typical azimuth reaches 32 dB.

  Conclusions  This method can provide references for the conformal ship mounting design of RF antennae for ships and the integrated design of complex large-scale systems.