Propagation effects in tactical radars

Tactical battlefield radars are employed in surveillance and target acquisition roles at ranges of approximately 1 to 20 km, their main targets being enemy ground vehicles and personnel. As with all types of radar the operating environment has a significant effect on the design and performance of these systems and propagation considerations are an important factor. The major propagation factors which limit the performance of tactical radars are the availability of line of sight, ground clutter, and effects of the weather. The ways in which propagation factors affect the choice of such radar parameters as frequency, polarisation, and RF waveform are discussed, and the ways in which propagation constraints can be minimised by the design of the signal processing system are considered. In an EW environment an important operational requirement is to minimize the probability of the location of the position of the radar by the enemy. Propagation effects such as multipath and diffraction are considered in broad terms in this context.