An all weather millimetre wave imaging radar for UAVs

Abstract

In this paper we describe a new 35GHz air-borne radar developed jointly by DERA and Alenia Marconi Systems. This radar is a functional prototype of a more highly configured imaging radar which is designed to meet the needs for all-weather imaging both for future unmanned air vehicles (UAV) and for seekers in the next generation of surface attack weapons.

The radar achieves high range resolution through a combination of pseudo-random phase coding and frequency agility. This is then augmented by synthetic aperture techniques to allow forward looking high resolution 2D imagery to be obtained. The radar has been installed on a fixed wing aircraft and has been used to gather fixed and relocatable target signature data under tactically representative conditions.

The paper begins with a discussion of the requirements for such a radar and then a review of its design and performance is presented. This is followed by examples of target signatures gathered during the initial system flights and a discussion on their exploitation for surveillance, target acquisition and tracking.