Installed performance analysis of radar antenna systems

If modern airborne radar systems are to function properly, the radar antenna radiation patterns must meet certain specifications. Previously, most radar antennas were designed and tested in a clean antenna environment, i.e., there are no near field scattering from host structures, or radome effects. However, these higher order effects are a matter of increasing concern with added performance demands in the ever increasing jammer and clutter interference environments. We investigated the capabilities and limitations of currently available analysis techniques and computer codes for installed performance of airborne radar antenna systems. Then we developed a novel cascaded technique which could predict total installed performance of airborne radar antenna systems, i.e., the near field scattering from aircraft structures and radome effects. The cascaded technique utilized a ray-tracing method in both airframe and radome simulation. Thus, the cascaded technique can efficiently predict the total installed performance of large radar antenna systems on an aircraft structure.