Real Time Scene Generator for Fuzing (RTSGF)

Future short range, high speed fuzes will require high resolution active imaging to rapidly detect and classify high value air and surface targets in the presence of passive and active countermeasures. Determination of the correct burst point for Height-of-Burst fuzes can be difficult, as non target scatterers such as terrain illuminated by the radar can confuse the fuze, causing it to fire prematurely. Successful fuzing requires that real time signal processing be performed on information about delay, Doppler and Radar Cross Section (RCS) of targets and background. Such a fuze’s operation for a complex scene can most accurately be assessed in a controlled environment by a hardware-in-the-loop simulation. Adequate representation of a scene requires real time generation of a large number of scattering elements having independent delay, Doppler and RCS. Existing target simulators are unable to generate the requisite number of scatterers at reasonable cost. To address this problem, Systems & Processes Engineering Corporation plans to leverage its expertise in the development of hardware for Digital RF Memories (DRFMs) to create a design for a Real Time Scene Generator for active imaging radar Fuzes (RTSGF). The RTSGF produce multiple coherent scatterers, each with independent delay, Doppler and RCS.