HIGHLIGHTS

• Some unusual systems applications, and some of the most modern

• Over-the-horizon radar and its unique characteristics

• Radar altimeters

• Arecibo, a gigantic radar for ionospheric study and planet gazing

• Moving target indicators, bridges from the past

• Pulse-Doppler radars, revolutionizers of air surveillance and control

• Synthetic aperture radars, the culmination of over 40 years of advancing capability

• Satellite object identification as a SAR extension

• Laser radars or lidars

• Bistatic radar systems

Radar is pervasive in modern life. Although military applications dominate, at least as far as big complex systems are concerned, nonmilitary applications are legion. Many medium-sized private boats and airplanes are radar equipped, the former for navigation and the latter for obtaining accurate altitude. Commercial airlines and ships are almost all radar equipped. Radars are much used in law enforcement. Traffic officers have them, as do the border patrol and others. The Federal Aviation Administration operates at least 40 large radars and numerous small ones to keep track of the nation s air traffic, with the higher altitudes being under radar control at all times. Many companies and individuals with high-value facilities use radars for security.

Military applications include all of those previously mentioned plus enormously varied additional uses associated with the military missions, such as surveillance, reconnaissance, targeting, and weapons delivery on land, at sea, and in aerospace.

To recite a litany of these specific mission-oriented radars is probably not as useful as picking out a few illustrative systems to discuss.