Analytical Study of the Bistatic Radar Cross-Section of a Prolate Spheroid

Abstract

Bistatic radar has important application in strategic and tactical space surveillance and in weapon tracking. At the present time, there is a lack of standard techniques for measuring radar cross sections. This effort was a feasibility study into obtaining an exact radar cross section for the Advanced Strategic Air Launched Missile (ASALM). The study was limited to the bistatic cross-section of a typical target. A prolate spheroid was selected because it resembles an air cruise missile. Results were configured in the form of bistatic cross-sections with a computer program to generate additional cross-sections for prolate spheroids with different major to minor axis ratios. Any surface that is convex at each point, and which has no two distinct points where the outward normal vectors are in the same direction, can be handled similarly. Hence, the program written could very quickly be changed to handle a figure that is ellipsoidal in all the major planes, or even a parabola of revolution that extends to infinity in one direction. It is simple a matter of being able mathematically to describe the surface.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1980
Accession Number
ADA086846

Entities

People

  • Albert W. Biggs
  • Stanton B. Mcmillian

Organizations

  • University of Kansas

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Launched
  • Bistatic Radar
  • Computer Programs
  • Computers
  • Coordinate Systems
  • Cruise Missiles
  • Detection
  • Frequency Shift
  • Observation
  • Observation Aircraft
  • Radar
  • Radar Cross Sections
  • Radar Receivers
  • Radar Transmitters
  • Reflection
  • Transmitters

Readers

  • Electromagnetic Wave Scattering and Antenna Radiation Engineering
  • Missile Defense Systems.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Space Objects