COOPERATIVE TARGETS DETECTION AND TRACKING RANGE MAXIMIZATION USING MULTIMODE LADAR/RADAR AND TRANSPONDERS - Abstract

Abstract

A LAser raDAR (LADAR) system was described in previous papers for detecting and tracking cooperative targets. The LADAR system was optimized to achieve accurate tracking with a high probability of detection and low False Alarm Rate (FAR). However, the operation range was limited to about thirty km's under clear sky conditions and less in low visibility and bad weather conditions. To obtain operation ranges in the order of hundreds km's without affecting tracking accuracy a LADAR/RADAR dual mode system was developed. Moreover, very bulky, expensive and powerful RADAR equipments are required. In this paper, we propose a tactical mobile tracking LADAR/RADAR systems based on a multi-mode LADAR/RADAR combination using active transponders on cooperative targets for predetection and tracking at higher range distances. The optimal solution described in this paper is based on a six-step multimode operation procedure, which starts from an L-band active transponder for maximal distance detection and tracking, and with decreasing distance it switches to an L-band RADAR, Ka-band RADAR with and without active transponder, LADAR with transponder and then to a LADAR without transponder for the final tracking step. Although relatively complicated (6 steps), our proposed solution requires significantly lower power levels and produces less radio interference than the former dual-mode system as shown in Table 1.