John Michael E Paraton

Antennas for Radar

Antennas fall into two general classes, OMNIDIRECTIONAL and DIRECTIONAL.
Omnidirectional antennas radiate rf energy in all directions simultaneously. They are
seldom used withmodern radars, but are commonly used in radio equipment, in iff
(identification friend or foe) equipment,and in countermeasures receivers for the
detection of enemy radar signals.
Directional antennas radiate rfenergy in patterns of LOBES or BEAMS that extend
outward from the antenna in one direction for agiven antenna position. The radiation
pattern also contains minor lobes, but these lobes are weak andnormally have little
effect on the main radiation pattern. The main lobe may vary in angular width fromone
or two degrees in some radars to 15 to 20 degrees in other radars. The width depends
on the system'spurpose and the degree of accuracy required.
Directional antennas have two important characteristics, DIRECTIVITY
and POWER GAIN.
Directivity of an antenna refers to the degree of sharpness of its beam. If the
beam is narrow in either thehorizontal or vertical plane, the antenna is said to
have high directivity in that plane. Conversely, if thebeam is broad in either plane,
the directivity of the antenna in that plane is low. Thus, if an antenna has anarrow
horizontal beam and a wide vertical beam, the horizontal directivity is high and
the verticaldirectivity is low. When the directivity of an antenna is increased, that
is, when the beam is narrowed, less power isrequired to cover the same range
because the power is concentrated. Thus, the other characteristic of anantenna,
power gain, is introduced. This characteristic is directly related to directivity.
Power gain of an antenna is the ratio of its radiated power to that of a reference
(basic) dipole. Bothantennas must have been excited or fed in the same manner
and each must have radiated from the sameposition. A single point of
measurement for the power-gain ratio must lie within the radiation field ofeach
antenna. An antenna with high directivity has a high power gain, and vice versa.
The power gain of asingle dipole with no reflector is unity. An array of several
dipoles in the same position as the singledipole and fed from the same line would
have a power gain of more than one; the exact figure woulddepend on the
directivity of the array.

Types of Radars

Radar originally was developed to meet the needs of the military services, and it
continues to have critical applications for national defense purposes. For instance,
radars are used to detect aircraft, missiles, artillery and mortar projectiles, ships, land
vehicles, and satellites. In addition, radar controls and guides weapons; allows one
class of target to be distinguished from another; aids in the navigation of aircraft and
ships; and assists in reconnaissance and damage assessment.
Military radar systems can be divided into three main classes based on platform: landbased, shipborne, and airborne. Within these broad classes, there are several other
categories based mainly on the operational use of the radar system. For the purposes
of this report, the categories of military radars will be as described below, although
there are some "gray" areas where some systems tend to cover more than one
category. There is also a trend to develop multimode radar systems. In these cases,
the radar category is based on the primary use of the radar.
Some of the more prominent types of radars are described below. These descriptions
are not precise, for each of these radar types usually employ a characteristic
waveform and signal processing that differentiate it from other radars.
Land-Based Air Defense Radars. These radars cover all fixed, mobile, and
transportable 2-D and 3-D systems used in the air defense mission.
Battlefield, Missile Control, and Ground Surveillance Radars. These radars also
include battlefield surveillance, tracking, fire-control, and weapons-locating radar
systems, whether fixed, mobile, transportable, or man-portable.
Naval and Coastal Surveillance, and Navigation Radars. These radars consist of
shipborne surface search and air search radars (2-D and 3-D) as well as land-based
coastal surveillance radars.
Naval Fire-Control Radars. These are shipborne radars that are part of a radar-based
fire-control and weapons guidance systems.