| Objective |
Limited space restricts the ability of shipboard radars to resolve small objects, such as floating mines and cruise missiles. Vista Research undertook the design of an experiment to demonstrate a novel method for increasing the resolution of multibeam radars without greatly increasing the space demands. |
| Approach |
Both the number of beams simultaneously generated and the resolution (narrowness) of each beam can be increased by adding additional transmitter antennas spaced out along the ship. These can be small and are separated approximately by the width of the radar receiving array antenna. The is to avoid building a large rigid structure. However, the positions of these additional antennas need to be known precisely, and small relative motions due to nearly imperceptible (to us) twists of the hull and superstructure can introduce significant errors. Thus, continuous recalibration of relative radar antenna positions is a key requirement. Vista Research has proposed a scheme to use radar reflections from the ocean itself to perform this calibration. |
| Application |
Ship defense is greatly enhanced by the use of a multiple-beam, high-resolution radar. |
