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cyber · defense-engineering

RF Systems Engineer

$130k – $200k

Design the radios, antennas, and link budgets that keep drones commanded and connected under jamming, GPS denial, and contested spectrum.

Why it matters

Every airborne autonomy stack assumes a radio that just works. RF engineers who understand mesh networking, LPI/LPD links, and anti-jam are paid accordingly.

Skills at a glance
1

RF + comms foundations

8 months

Signals, propagation, and the DSP math behind modern radios.

Skill
🛠 SkillRF fundamentals· All About Circuits
essentialFree

Link budgets, path loss, antenna patterns — the everyday vocabulary of the job.

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Course
🎓 CourseAn Intuitive Introduction to Signal Processing· Coursera
essential25hbeginner$49

Bridges textbook DSP to the intuition you need for radio design.

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🎓 CourseSoftware Defined Radio with HackRF· Great Scott Gadgets
importantFree20hintermediate

SDR gives you a full radio in software — the fastest way to learn protocols.

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Knowledge
📖 KnowledgeAntenna Theory (Balanis)· Amazon
recommended

The reference for every antenna question you’ll ever field.

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2

Link design + anti-jam

6 months

Designing a radio that survives adversarial conditions.

Skill
🛠 SkillLink budget calculation· everything RF
essentialFree

First question every customer asks: at what range does it work?

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🛠 SkillFrequency hopping / DSSS· GNU Radio
importantFree

FHSS + DSSS are the baseline AJ techniques on every tactical radio.

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Course
🎓 CourseDigital Signal Processing 1· Coursera
important30hintermediate$49

EPFL’s DSP course — the math behind modern waveforms.

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Certification
📜 CertificationAmateur Radio General license· ARRL
recommendedFree

Cheap, teaches you spectrum discipline, signals you care to recruiters.

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3

Mesh + contested ops

6 months

Multi-vehicle, GPS-denied, ECM-heavy environments — where modern drones actually operate.

Skill
🛠 SkillMesh networking (Silvus / Persistent / 5G sidelink)· Silvus
essentialFree

Tactical mesh is the de facto data link for OAS today.

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🛠 SkillTAK integration (CoT protocol)· TAK.gov
nice-to-haveFree

Tactical Assault Kit is where RF feeds meet operator UIs.

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Knowledge
📖 KnowledgeGPS anti-spoofing + M-code· GPS.gov
importantFree

Every defense customer will ask about spoofing resilience.

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Certification
📜 CertificationSecurity+· CompTIA
recommended$392

Minimum for many cleared RF roles.

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