DETERMINATION OF COUNTERMEASURES TO BISTATIC RADAR

THE REVIVAL OF INTEREST IN BISTATIC RADAR SYSTEMS OVER THE PAST DECADE HAS RAISED QUESTIONS ABOUT THESE SYSTEMS' SUSCEPTIBILITY TO COUNTERMEASURES. BISTATIC RADARS HAVE GOOD INHERENT ECCM CAPABILITY BECAUSE THE RECEIVER'S POSITION IS NOT READILY DETERMINED, FORCING JAMMERS TO EMPLOY WIDE ANGLE ANTENNA PATTERNS, THUS REDUCING THEIR ERP. NEW APPLICATIONS OF BISTATIC RADAR TO FUNCTIONS TRADITIONALLY PERFORMED BY MONOSTATIC RADARS REQUIRE A HIGH DEGREE OF COORDINATION BETWEEN TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER OVER LARGE DISTNCES. THIS COORDINATION CREATES COMPLEX PROBLEMS BEYOND THOSE FOUND IN MONOSTATIC APPLICATIONS. THE GEOMETRY OF BISTATIC SYSTEMS ALSO MAKES THEM SUSCEPTIBLE TO AMBIGUITY PROBLEMS NOT GENERALLY ENCOUNTERED IN MONOSTATIC RADARS. THESE QUALITIES SUGGEST ADDITIONAL VULNERABILITY TO ECM. IN THIS ACTIVITY, A STUDY WILL BE MADE OF THESE VULNERABILITIES IN THE PARTICULAR BISTATIC SYSTEM HAVING A SPACEBORNE TRANSMITTER AND AN AIRBORNE RECEIVER WITH THE INTENT OF IDENTIFYING NEW CHANNELS FOR COUNTERMEASURE ATTACK.