Space-time adaptive processing for manoeuvring airborne radar

Abstract

Space-time adaptive processing (STAP) techniques provide simultaneous rejection of jamming and clutter in airborne radar. The greatest benefits over conventional MTI (moving target indication) approaches are in terms of a capability to detect slow-moving targets which possess the same Doppler frequency as mainlobe clutter returns. This paper examines the effects of platform manoeuvre on STAP clutter and jamming rejection performance for a forward-facing array (i.e. where the array is orientated transversally to the direction of travel). It is shown that STAP slow-target detection performance is not sensitive to the radar platform orientation. It is also demonstrated that, under conditions of manoeuvre, STAP can provide better jammer rejection performance than architectures which cascade conventional clutter filtering and spatial adaptive beamforming.