A microstrip backfire antenna which combines the microstrip type antenna ment with a backfire cavity to provide more than three times the gain over a single microstrip element and thereby be capable of replacing four or more elements of a conventional microstrip array. The microstrip backfire antenna consists of a microstrip element in a cavity between a total reflector and a partial reflector and is characterized by multiple reflections of electromagnetic waves between the two reflectors and by energy being radiated normal to and through the partial reflector.