Adaptive Antenna Array for Radar Cross Section (RCS) Measurement

ARCON Corporation proposes a number of cost-effective improvements for measuring low RCS targets on the USAF RATSCAT RCS measurement ranges. These improvements include hardware modifications and intelligent adaptive software to improve measurement accuracy while controlling costs by keeping most of the present reflector systems. Specifically, we address the problem of pylon reflections, illumination of the range by high sidelobes on transmit, time varying clutter returns on receive, and backround drift in the natural range enviroment. The solutions include: (a) deterministic adaptive nulling for the reflectors on transmit with optional coherent sidelobe cancellation on receive; (b) a vertical reflector array for monopulse and adaptive nulling on receive; (c) active, analog cancellation of the pylon reflections; and (d) intelligent adaptation of backround measurements using neural networks and an expert system to optimize backround subtraction during enviroment or system drift.