USE OF MILLIMETER WAVE TECHNOLOGY IN NAVAL SHIPBORNE RADAR APPLICATIONS

POTENTIAL NAVAL SHIPBORNE MM WAVE APPLICATIONS ARE REVIEWED. EMPHASIS IS ON THE NEED TO COUNTER ANTI-SHIP MISSILE THREATS FOR WHICH PRESENT SYSTEMS MAY NOT BE EFFECTIVE, AND THE "SEA-SKIMMING" ANTI-SHIP MISSILE IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO GENERATE DEMANDING SHIPBORNE FIRE CONTROL RADAR REQUIREMENTS. A COMBINATION OF VERY SHORT REACTION TIME, A SMALL RCS TARGET, AND "CLUTTER" POSES SIGNIFICANT RADAR DESIGN CHALLENGES. IN THE STUDY, BOTH U.S. AND FOREIGN MM WAVE RADARS IN USE WILL BE REVIEWED. THEIR SYSTEM AND TECHNOLOGY LIMITATIONS WILL BE IDENTIFIED AND AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENTS DEFINED. THE GENERIC PERFORMANCE OF MM WAVE RADARS WILL BE CALCULATED, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS, SUCH AS ATMOSPHERIC LOSS, THE VOLUMETRIC SEARCH PROBLEM, HYDROMETEROR SCATTERING, AND THE RANGE OF RADAR PARAMETERS--TRANSMITTER POWER, NOISE FIGURE, COMPONENT LOSSES, ANTENNA PATTERN SIDELOBES, ETC. SPECIAL ATTENTION WILL BE GIVEN TO THE APPLICATION OF MONOPULSE RADAR TECHNIQUES. COHERENT SIGNAL PROCESSING, ALTHOUGH NOT CURRENTLY IN EXTENSIVE USE DUE TO TECHNOLOGY LIMITATIONS, WILL BE INCLUDED TO EXAMINE ANY ADVANTAGES IT MAY OFFER.