Abstract: The demand for full space communication and detecting leads to the booming of variety of air-based carrier platforms, which challenges the integrating technologies of array antennas and carrier platforms. In order to fully use the aperture resources of the carrier platforms for property improvement, antenna and carrier platform should be designed deeply interactively, leading to the forming of the concept of the technology of platform-adapting array antenna. This paper introduces the origin and development of the platform-adapting array antenna for air-based applications, and then gives a discussion and related outlook on the key techniques such as array synthesis, antenna design and integration, manufacturing, and system robustness. This paper aims at promoting the development of the technology of platform-adapting array antenna.