Tech 101: Defense Radar

Many defense missions rely on the detection, tracking, and possible identification of targets of interest. Since its proliferation during World War II, radar has become a widely-used technology to accomplish these mission objectives as it offers many strategic advantages (e.g., resiliency to environmental nuisances, long-range detection, imaging capabilities). The benefits afforded by radar have enabled its use to permeate beyond the defense realm to meteorology, astronomy, and many commercial applications. At its core, radar employs the emission and reception of radio frequency (RF) energy to perform echolocation of targets of interest; from received echoes, the radar can infer many characteristics of a target such as its location, motion, and/or features about a target's structure. In this talk, fundamentals of radar measurement are introduced, along with the high-level trades that are typically encountered in radar system design. After the basic concept of operation has been discussed, an overview of contemporary radar applications for the defense community will be given, e.g., surveillance, fire control. Finally, the talk will conclude with a brief look at ongoing defense efforts involving radar systems.