A new technique for reducing radar response to signals entering antenna sidelobes

A new technique for suppressing undesired echoes that enter the sidelobes of a radar antenna on receive is described and evaluated. The technique involves moving the phase center of a phase array antenna in the plane of the aperture to Doppler shift signals radiated and received on the antenna sidelobes out of the passband of the radar receiver. The phase center motion is achieved by illuminating only part of an available phased array aperture and moving the illuminated part across the aperture while the antenna is transmitting. The technique can be implemented by switches in the feed lines of the antenna elements. The far field response of the antenna in phase and amplitude is calculated using a computer simulation.