Radar Debris Algorithms and Models for Discrimination

Debris in a missile complex can significantly impact performance of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). The presence of debris can affect the accuracy of tracks on potentially threatening objects and the ability to reliably identify threatening objects versus non-threatening objects. It is important that the effects of debris on BMDS performance be well understood and its detrimental effects mitigated where necessary. The TSC debris RCS model will produce radar signatures with the characteristics needed for BMDS architecture and radar algorithm studies. The model will produce coherent signatures that will support analysis of radar algorithms that rely on phase characteristics, including Doppler. The model will have credible temporal variations in amplitude and phase. It will be compatible with wideband radar waveforms and radar frequencies from UHF through X-band as a minimum, and it will produce credible polarization dependence. The debris model will be used for development and evaluation of the proposed TSC debris pre-screener algorithm. The pre-screener algorithm will make it possible to quickly assign debris identification probabilities to much of the debris in a missile complex, thereby enabling the defense to allocate its resources more effectively. The pre-screener algorithm will operate using low PRF waveforms and low to medium radar bandwidths.