Submarine Mast Discrimination Techniques for High-Altitude Maritime Surveillance Radar

The shift of Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Periscope Detection and Discrimination (PDD) radar sensor platforms from low-altitude, low-grazing angles to mid- and high-altitude, high-grazing angles requires new radar modes and innovative processing techniques to detect submarine mast signatures and discriminate them from sea clutter, flotsam returns, and other man-made objects such as buoys and small boats. To meet these needs, The Probitas Project, Inc. (Probitas) proposes a physics-based High-Altitude Periscope Detection (HAPD) model that considers the scattering returns in multipath environments, the returns presented by sea clutter, and the effects of small surface-based targets. This model supports the analysis for high-altitude PDD to include the requirements for signal-to-clutter enhancement, resolution, time on target, and the extraction of features to reduce false alarms from small objects on the surface of the ocean. The approach developed includes innovative new algorithms for both Mechanically Scanned Arrays (MSA) and Active Electronically Scanned Arrays (AESA) to provide PDD from medium and high altitudes.