Real-Time Exploitation of Video Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery

Technology Service Corporation (TSC) and its partner Telephonics will develop VideoSAR, signature-aided Noncoherent Change Detection (NCD) and/or other slow moving target detection algorithms for the APS-153 radar on the MH-60R helicopter that do not require any hardware modifications. TSC has broad experience in real-time VideoSAR, NCD, and dismount target detection from the AFRL Gotcha, DARPA ViSAR and other programs. In the Phase I Base effort, TSC will investigate several innovative approaches that are compatible with this single channel X-band radar for short and long range operations. TSC will explore NCD for both reflected energy and target shadows and exo-clutter range-Doppler processing to detect very slow moving targets. Novel antenna scanning patterns and moving target focusing will also be investigated. TSC will evaluate performance using in-house measured data and simulations including a high fidelity dismount model. During the Option, TSC will identify suitable SAR image formation techniques, assess the navigation system accuracy, and develop a plan for implementing the algorithms on the APS-153 processor. TSC will also explore techniques that can be applied to other Navy airborne radars of interest. Telephonics will provide guidance on radar, processor and display capabilities in Phase 1 and support any APS-153 demonstration in Phase 2.