Radar Seeker Model for Hypersonic Weapon Full Life Cycle Support

Hypersonic vehicles provide the ability to pursue targets at very high speeds and long ranges, making them a critical offensive and defensive technology and a top priority of the DoD. To achieve precision guidance for these vehicles, improved radar guidance systems are needed to meet the accuracy and rate requirements for target detection and recognition in high-speed flight, but design and evaluation of these radar systems is complicated by the harsh operating conditions associated with hypersonic weapons. The Navy has identified a clear need for development of a computational modeling and simulation framework that specifically addresses mission-specific design challenges associated with hypersonic radar seeker subsystems. The overarching objective of the effort is development of a digital engineering-based framework integrating engineering and engagement modeling and simulation (M&S) tools for configurable evaluation of radar seekers in hypersonic environments to inform low-level design tradeoffs. In Phase I, the CFD Research team developed the Hypersonic Digital Engineering Testbed for Evaluating ConcepT Radars (HyDETECTR), a prototype digital engineering framework for capturing radar interference from the hypersonic environment through integrated engineering-level modeling and simulation tools. The team developed the digital engineering architecture and configurable radar modeling component of HyDETECTR, and demonstrated their application to resolution of radar interference for an antenna exposed to the hypersonic environment for a prescribed trajectory. Phase II will capitalize on the Phase I results and focus on extensions including; consideration of additional environmental effects to form more accurate interference models; integration with engagement-level simulation for evaluation against mission-specific criteria; integration with data analytics and design optimization tools to support design tradeoff studies; extensive technology validation; and insertion into Navy radar concept evaluation workflow. The Phase II final product will provide Navy scientists and engineers with a powerful digital engineering tool for supporting design-level trade studies as a standalone tool and as a subsystem in closed-loop 6DOF simulations.