7.1 Introduction

Earlier in the book the various high-resolution radar techniques employed for target recognition were presented. Within this chapter the design issues at the radar system level associated with integrating target recognition functions are discussed. The implications on components, antenna design and operational aspects are discussed in subsequent chapters.

There are design issues associated with sensitivity, dynamic range and calibration, which are generally common to most target recognition functions, which are more stressing than for the design of the conventional radar modes. One key issue in target recognition is that the target is divided into small elements by the high-resolution waveform, each of which has a much lower radar cross-section (rcs) than the whole target. Hence, the sensitivity of the target recognition mode has to be related to the target constituents measured and the Radar Range Equation has to be modified accordingly. These are discussed in Section 7.2. In addition, as clutter is still present, so that the radar is required to instantaneously cope with clutter and the small target elements of interest, dynamic range is a critical issue and is discussed in Section 7.3.

Another key issue is the distortion of the signal within the radar itself, particularly for the wideband high-range resolution target recognition techniques. This is not usually an issue for the lower resolution target detection and tracking modes, as there is generally very little distortion occurring over the associated relatively narrow bandwidths used. A specific calibration or distortion compensation function is required in high-range resolution...