Adaptive array antennas play an important role in wireless communications systems. The article begins with a brief introduction to the evolution of wireless communications systems and demands for adaptive array antennas. After that, the current and future applications of adaptive array antennas in wireless communications systems are described. Next, the structures and implementations of the adaptive array antenna systems, including switched‐beam antennas, phased‐array antennas, digital beamforming (DBF) array antennas, parasitic array antennas, diversity antennas, and multiple input multiple output (MIMO), are discussed. The article concludes with a comparison of different adaptive array antenna architectures.