Sea-Skimming Missile Tracking Radar Array System

To address the Air Force’s need for detecting and tracking low radar cross section, high-speed, low-altitude weapons over a large area of water, Intellisense Systems, Inc. (ISI) proposes to develop the new Sea-Skimming Missile Tracking Radar Array (SEMTA). The SEMTA multi-sensor system is based on a novel architecture that combines a compact low-cost radar design and a novel data processing approach, which enables high accuracy tracking of the target while operating on unmanned surface vehicles (USV). SEMTA is used in a multi-sensor array configuration placed along the flight trajectory of a missile under test. By applying trilateration range measurement and GPS data, the agile, compact SEMTA radar array achieve higher accuracy and over-the-horizon tracking coverage than large, expensive radar systems. SEMTA’s Doppler pulse compression radar combines analog and digital beamforming technologies to provide a wide field of view and high efficiency. In Phase I, ISI will develop a detailed concept architecture, including the radar antenna and electronic modules, detection, tracking, and stabilization algorithms, and centralized data fusion, tracking, and visualization software for multi-radar array operation, and demonstrate SEMTA’s feasibility. In Phase II, ISI will develop and build a SEMTA prototype to test and characterize the tracking system’s performance.