Dual-channel radar for small UAVs

Abstract

A Dual-Channel Radar (DCR) has been developed providing lite-weight SAR GMTI capability for Small UAVs. The prototype radar weighs 5-lbs and has demonstrated the extraction of ground moving targets (GMTs) embedded in high-resolution SAR imagery data. Sum and difference channel data is used in a DPCA algorithm to extract the GMTs and display them on the Sum channel high resolution SAR image. Heretofore this type of capability has been reserved for much larger systems such as the JSTARS. Previously small liteweight SARs featured only a single channel and only displayed SAR imagery. Now, with the advent of this new capability, SAR GMTI performance is now possible for small UAV class radars.