J. Gavan, LADAR RADAR DUAL-MODE OPERATION SYSTEM FOR ENHANCING TRACKING RANGE AND ACCURACY/, International journal of infrared and millimeter waves, 15(1), 1994, pp. 145-159
Previously investigated LADAR Cooperative target acquisition and track
ing systems, are enhanced from 10 to 40 km in good visibility conditio
ns. The choice of an optimal LADAR source and the ranges improvements
of accurate tracking operation are described. For enhancing detection
ranges, specific dual mode LADAR/RADAR systems have been proposed. The
optimal solutions for all weather ranges above 400 km are L band RADA
R characterized by very high power complex transmitters and bulky ante
nnas. The use of repeaters on cooperative targets is investigated oper
ating at the same frequency than the ground tracking radar. The equati
ons for ranges computations of the cooperative targets repeater in LAD
AR/RADAR systems are developed in an Appendix. The computation results
show that ranges exceeding 1000 km can be tracked with significantly
smaller RADAR Tx power and antenna dimensions. These enhanced ranges L
ADAR/RADAR, however, require complex signal processing circuits in the
RADAR part and are exposed to severe clutter and interference. New me
thods to optimize ranges, reduce clutter effects and improve accuracy
of the LADAR/RADAR dual systems are under investigation.