Radar - The Future

Progress in civil and military radar units since the invention of radar in 1935 is summarized, noting the trend to multipurpose units. The earliest systems functioned at 10 cm, then 3 cm after development of a cavity magnetron to provide power for shorter wavelengths. Military needs are driving improvements in three-dimensional scanning capabilities, Primarily to locate aircraft in the presence of ground clutter and sea surface scattering. Autonomous, separate transmitter and receiver units are being tested. Lengthening ground-based radar wavelengths to tens of meters will permit over-the-horizon sensing with backscattering, ionospheric bounce, or induction of a potential in the sea surface as the possible techniques. Mode S monopulse radars will permit transponder queries between small and large aircraft. Finally, pulse Doppler SAR systems may afford terrain recognition with no corroborating data except an expert systems data base.