Electronic Navigational Aids

Course Outline

1. Fundamentals of Electronic Navigation

2. RDF / ADF
3. RADAR
4. Hyperbolic Navigational System
5. Satellite Navigational System
6. Aircraft Navigation
7. Marine Navigation
Fundamentals of Navigation
Definition of Navigation
• It is the art of piloting and sailing
• It is the procedure by which the pilot
moves the craft from one point to another
along a desired path
• It is the method of exploring an unknown
or unfamiliar place
Major Navigation Agencies
• Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
Washington DC – operates navigational
aids and air traffic control for both civil and
military aircraft in the US and its
possessions
• Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) Washington DC – the agency that
licenses transmitters and operators in the
united states and aboard US registered
ships and aircraft.
Major Navigation Agencies
• International Air Transport Association (IATA)
Montreal Canada – the international association
representing scheduled airlines
• International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO),
Montreal Canada – a united nations agency that
allocates standards and recommended
practices, including navigational aids, for all civil
aviation
• International telecommunications Union (ITU),
Geneva, Switzerland – an agency of the united
nations that allocates frequencies for best use of
the radio spectrum
Early Methods of Navigation
Celestial Navigation – it is the old method
of navigation, done by measuring the
angular positions of a celestial body
• Uses sun, moon, and stars
• Wind movements
• Uses sextant
• Uses chronometer
• Uses astronomical tables
Sextant
• It measures the
altitude of a celestial
body in the sky
• It is used to measure
the angle between
any two visible
objects
• Determines the angle
of a celestial body
and the horizon called
altitude
Astronomical Tables
• These were designed
to facilitate the
calculation of
planetary positions,
lunar phases,
eclipses, and
calendrical
information
Other Methods of Navigation
• Pilotage or Visual Contact
• Dead Reckoning
• Radio Navigation (Electronic Navigation)
Pilotage or Visual Contact
• It is navigation by visual contact by
following terrain features such as rivers,
coastlines, mountain ridges, roads, and
correlating what is seen in aeronautical
chart
• The navigator fixes his position on a map
by observing known visible landmarks
provided that there is good visibility
• Radar with plan position (pp display) can
be used. It is called Electric Pilotage
Pilotage or Visual Contact
• The pilotage method of navigation developed
naturally through time as aircraft evolved with
the ability to travel increasingly longer distances
.
• Flying at low altitudes, pilots used rivers, railroad
tracks and other visual references to guide them
from place to place
• Pilotage is mainly used by pilots of small, low
speed aircraft who compare symbols on
aeronautical charts with surface features on the
ground in order to navigate
Dead Reckoning
• The position of the craft at any instant of
time is calculated from the previously
determined position, the speed of its
motion with respect to the earth, and the
time ellapsed
• Dead Reckoning (DR) stands for deduced
calculation
• The direction of the craft called track
angle, and speed indicator are needed
Dead Reckoning
• In dead reckoning, the navigator starts
with a known positional fix, taken with
observations and other tools
• This fix is noted on a chart with an
indicator showing it is a firm positional fix,
not an extrapolation.
• The next time the navigator wants to
estimate position, the amount of time
elapsed is considered alongside the
recorded speed of travel and the course.
Dead Reckoning
• Dead reckoning can also include adjustments for
currents and winds, as these factors may take a
vessel off course
• A new position is entered on the chart to reflect
the outcome of the calculations.
• One serious problem with dead reckoning is the
risk of cumulative errors.
• Recording positional information relative to
previous positions, rather than with the use of
new data, runs the risk of compounding an error
Major Electronic Navigation
System
1. Automatic Direction Finding / Radio Direction Finding
(ADF / RDF)
2. VHF Omnidirectional Range (VOR)
3. Distance Measuring Equipment (DME)
4. Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN)
5. Collocated VOR/TACAN station (VORTAC)
6. Instrument Landing System (ILS)
7. Microwave Landing System
8. Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System (ATCRBS)
9. Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS)
10. Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS)
11. Radio Navigation (RNAV)
Hyperbolic Navigation System
1. Decca
2. Omega
3. Loran - C
Satellite Navigational System
1. Transit
2. Navigation System using Time and
Ranging / Global Positioning System
(NAVSTAR / GPS)
3. Global Orbiting Navigation Satellite
System (GLONASS)
4. Galileo Positioning System
Radio Frequencies used in
Electronic Navigation
• Omega – 10 to 13 kHz
• VLF – 16 to 24 kHz
• Decca – 70 to 130 kHz
• Loran – C / D – 100 kHz
• LFR – 200 to 300 kHz
• ADF / NDB – 200 to 1600 kHz
• Loran A – 2 MHz
• Marker Beacon – 75 MHz
Radio Frequencies used in
Electronic Navigation
• ILS Localizer – 108 to 112 MHz
• VOR – 108 to 118 MHz
• ILS Glide Slope – 329 to 335 MHz
• DME and TACAN – 960 to 1215 MHz
• ATCRBS – 1227 to 1575 MHz
• GPS – 1227 to 1575 MHz
• Altimeter - 4200 MHz
• MLS – 5 GHz
• Weather Radar – 5, 9 GHz
• Doppler Radar – 10 to 20 GHz
RADAR
• Radar is an acronym for radio detection
and ranging
• Radio – refers to electromagnetic waves
with frequencies between 10 kHz and 300
000 MHz
• Detection – discovering the existence
• Ranging – refers to the distance between
something.
Radar
Definition
• It is a system that uses reflected radio
waves to determine the presence, location
(direction and distance), and speed of
distant objects
• Radar is an American acronym which
replaced the previously British
abbreviation RDF
• It becomes a standard word in English
language losing the capitalization
Applications of Radar
• Meteorological detection of precipitation
• Air traffic control
• Weather monitoring
• Military
• Radar operates by transmitting a known
signal and then detecting the echo of this
signal as it reflects from any object in the
signal’s propagation path.
• The transmitter & receiver are at the same
location in most radars and share the
same antenna.
• The distance to the object is easily
calculated from the time between the
transmitted signal & the received echo and
is displayed on a screen similar to that of
an oscilloscope.
Basic Radar Concepts
• Different schemes are used for the
transmitted pulse and echo receiver so
that range and angle to the target object
are determined, or the motion and velocity
of the target are measured.
• The transmitted beamwidth must be very
narrow, so that the target angle is precise;
• A wide beamwidth will indicate the angle
to a very coarse value. This requires
antennas that are at least several
wavelengths in diameter, to provide the
sharper beamwidth.
Basic Radar Concepts
• It requires that a transmitter emit a signal
using a directional antenna toward some
object called target
• The signal reflects back to the source,
where it is received and interpreted
• The reflected signal is called echo
• Early radars often used signals in HF or
VHF regions
• Modern radars used microwaves
• Early radars operated in the range of 50 to 100
MHz.
• Today’s radar systems use the shorter
wavelength frequencies, from the
multihundred MHz to multi-GHz ranges, where
a sharply focused antenna that is many
wavelengths in size is much more practical.
• The amount of power reflected by the target
depends on many factors, including the size,
shape, material (metal, plastic, wood, or wood),
and edges (sharp or rounded) of the target, as
well as the frequency of the incident radar signal
and the angle between the radar system & the
target.
Basic Radar Concepts (cont…)
• Microwaves can be focused into narrower
beams, and can detect smaller targets
• The target must be relatively large
compared with the wavelength to provide
a good reflection
• An exception is the long- range- over-
the-horizon radar which uses HF to take
advantage of ionospheric propagation
• Radar systems summarize all of these
factors by the radar cross section
(RCS), which has units of square meters
and indicates the effective target size as
seen by the radar.
• RCS = 4A2/2, where A= area,
=wavelength=c/f, c=speed of light,
f=frequency
• A larger RCS means that the target reflects
proportionally more of the transmitted
beam that it intercepts.
Radar Cross Section
• It is the area of a perfectly conducting flat
plate, facing the source that would reflect
the same amount of power toward the
receiver
• Real targets are neither perfect conductor
nor flat planes
• The radar cross section is smaller than the
actual cross sectional area of the target
• A simple target such as sphere will
scatter the incoming energy in many
directions, and only a very small fraction
will be returned.
• In contrast, a large flat plate is more
effective reflector with much larger RCS.
• The table (the next slide) gives the RCS
of some basic shapes as a function of
dimension & wavelength, as well as typical
values for some common objects when
viewed “head on” at 1 GHz.
 Typical RCS values
Item RCS (m2)
Sphere of radius a, a >>  a2
Sphere of radius a, a <<  1442a2/2
Resonant dipole 0.8662
Flat plate, broadside, area A 4A2/2
Small airplane 1-2
Jet fighter 6
Large jet aircraft 40
Jumbo jet aircraft 100
Small pleasure boat 2
Cabin cruiser 10
Pickup truck 200
Car 100
Person 1
Bird 0.01
Radar Cross Section (RCS)
• From the table, typical RCS values show
impact of shape, size and wavelength;
some RCS are relatively independent of
wavelength, while others are very
dependent on it.
• The rudder of an airplane is a major factor
in its RCS.
• Ironically, a truck has a larger RCS than a
large airplane, although the truck is
physically smaller; this is due to the flat
sides & sharp edges of the truck body.
• Poor radar targets (such as lifeboats) that
do want to be visible often increase their
RCS by carrying special lightweight signal
reflectors designed for maximum RCS.
• Example 1: What is the RCS of a flat piece
of metal, 7.5 cm on each side at 1 GHz?
• Example 2: repeat example 1 at 10 GHz.
• Example 3: What is the RCS of a sphere of
radius 0.5 m when the frequency is 10
GHz?
• The range over which the radar system
will reliably detect an object is determined
by many factors.
• The reflected signal power must be large
enough so that the receiver can detect it,
and is therefore closely related to the SNR
required for reliable detection.
• When the transmitting & receiving
antennas are the same-which is usually
the case- the signal power that reaches
the receiver is
 Pr=PtG22(RCS)/(4)3R4
Where:
Pt= transmitted power (W)
Pr= received echo signal power (W)
G = antenna gain (expressed as ratio,not in
db)
= signal wavelength (m)
R = range to the target
Example: What power is received when the
transmitted signal is 1000W at 1 GHz, the target
is 10,000 m away, the target RCS is 1 sq.meter
and the antenna gain is 40 dB?
Radar Equation (cont…)
• The returning signal may be quite weak
• The signal strength is subject to square
law attenuation (incident and reflected
wave)
• Thus the received signal is inversely
proportional to the fourth power of the
distance
• The power of the return signal is affected
by the size, shape, and composition of the
target
• The maximum range that the system can
achieve occurs when the received echo
power is at least equal to the minimum
signal that the receiver can detect despite
unavoidable external & internal noise.
• There are several variables that increase
this maximum range, and each has
advantages & drawbacks:
The transmitted power can be increased –
more costly equipment and more power
must be provided;
The antenna can have higher gain – a
larger, more complex design;
The signal wavelength can be increased –
but lower frequency signals suffer more
atmospheric noise and provide less range
resolution;
Lower-noise receivers can be used – costly
or unavailable; or
The RCS can be increased by changing
target shape & size – of course this is not
often practical & an enemy target will
strive to decrease its RCS.
• Note that the received power decreases
with the 4th power of the range. This is
because the transmitted beam spreads out
& its power decreases with the square of
the distance;
• Similarly, the reflected power from the
target spreads and also decreases with the
square of the distance.
• For example, doubling the useful range
requires increasing the power by a factor
of 24=16; tripling the distance requires
34=81 times the power.
• For these reasons, radar designs place a
great deal of emphasis on higher-gain
antennas and very low-noise receivers
which can detect ever-smaller received
signals.
• Early radar system used deflection
modulation, a simple variation of an
oscilloscope screen to display the echo
information.
• The horizontal trace, at a constant sweep
rate, is started simultaneously with the
transmitted signal, & the received signal is
applied to the vertical input.
• The echo then produces a pulse or blip
on the screen along the horizontal axis at
a distance from the left-hand starting point
that is proportional to the round- trip
signal time.
• The horizontal axis is calibrated in range
units proportional to the time units, since
range is:
R=ct/2
where c=speed of light & t=the total time
between the transmitted signal & the
received echo.
• This time is easily measured on the
screen as the number of divisions
between the sweep origin & the
radar blip, divided by the known
sweep rate (divdiv/s).
• The factor of ½ is needed because the
signal has completed a round trip to
the target & back, covering twice
the actual target range.
• Example: What is the range when t is
15s?
• In many radar applications, however,
the radar antenna physically or
electronically scans the sky, rotating
as a search radar around a complete
360 circle or sweeping back & forth
through some smaller angle as an
aiming radar.
• The single horizontal line display cannot
directly show both the target angle &
range, and although the angle could be
displayed on a separate indicator, this
requires that the operator look at two
displays at the same time.
• Also, it is hard to determine movement
of the target on successive sweeps.
• In a plan-position indicator (PPI) the
oscilloscope screen is modified to present
a 360 image, with the radar system at the
center of the screen.
• The fixed horizontal line of a simple display
now rotates around the center, in
synchronization with the antenna movement
(a typical rate is 6 rev/min).
• In early radar systems this display rotation
was accomplished by actually rotating the
deflection coils (or plates) mechanically in
sync with antenna while power was fed to
the coils or plates via slip rings.
• This relatively unreliable and expensive
method has been replaced, and the scan
is now done electronically by
continuously varying the signals
applied to the CRT x and y
deflection circuitry in the correct
mathematical relationship to produce
the appearance of a rotating axis, or by
a raster scan that creates the same
visual effect.
Types of Radar
• Pulse Radar – works by transmitting short
burst of microwaves called pulse
• Continuous Wave Radar – transmits
continuously and compares the frequency
of the received with that of transmitted
signal
• Doppler Radar – uses either pulse or
continuous wave to obtain the frequency
shift between the radar and the target
(Doppler Effect)
Pulse Radar Block Diagram
Pulse Radar
Pulse Terminology
Pulse Radar
Ways to detect target
• The antenna is
moved physically
• The antenna radiation
pattern is moved
electronically (as in
the case of phase
array antenna)
PULSE SHAPES
• A pulsed radar system transmits a
relatively narrow pulse by turning the
high-frequency carrier on for a short
time.
• The pulse repetition frequency
(PRF) or pulse repetition rate (PPR)
defines how frequently these pulses are
sent.
• The pulse width indicates the actual
duration of a pulse.
• The ratio of the pulse width to the
total time between successive pulses
(the inverse of PRF) is the transmitter
duty cycle.
• The radar receiver is designed to detect
the reflected signal after each pulse is
sent.
• The average power of the transmitter
is equal to the peak power times the
duty cycle.
Determining the Distance
Where
ct
R = distance in any R
units 2
C = speed of light t ( s )
R(nmi) = distance in R( nmi ) 
12.36
nautical miles
R(yd) = distance in
yards
R( yd )  164t
Maximum Unambiguous Range
• It is the maximum distance where the
radar can detect distance without
ambiguity
• Occurs when the pulse period (PRT) is
less than the time taken for a pulse to
return from the target
• Beyond this range the radar cannot
distinguish between this target and a much
closer one
Maximum Unambiguous Range
(Cont…)
Where
cT

T = pulse period or the
pulse repetition time Rmax
f = pulse repetition rate
2
(frequency)
c
Rmax 
2f
• In basic radar system the maximum
unambiguous range or maximum usable
range is limited by the time between pulses.
• Consider what happens if a pulse is sent out
every 1s, & the distance to target is such
that the echo takes more than 1s to return.
• The receiver will not be able to tell if the
echo is from the 1st pulse or from a
successive pulse, & the target would appear
closer than it really is.
• As the PRF increases, the maximum
unambiguous range decreases.
• Example: The PRF is 1000 Hz. What is the
maximum unambiguous range?
• Solution: Any pulse that returns after 1
time period between pulses will be
confused with a return from the 2nd pulse,
so the max. range occurs when
t=1/PRF.
• Using this in the range equation,
R = (3x108)(0.001) / 2
= 0.0015x108=150,000 m
About 93 miles.
Minimum Usable Range
• Transmitted pulse has
a finite duration called
pulse width
• The receiver cannot cT p
detect if the echo
returns while the
Rmin 
pulse is being 2
transmitted
• Tp = pulse duration or
pulse width
• Recall that the pulsed radar shows echoes
from any reflecting object in the signal path –
this means that many of the echoes are of
stationary objects (buildings, geographic
features such as hills, and the like) which are
called clutter that do not changed on
successive sweep of the antenna.
• Generally, most of the interesting & important
information occurs when the target(s) changes
position, whether they be aircraft, airport
landing strips, trucks or other vehicles.. To
overcome this problem, radar systems based on
the Doppler shift were developed.
Doppler Radar
• Pulse radar can measure velocity in an indirect
way
• Velocity is found by finding the position at two
different times and calculating how far it has
moved in a given time interval
• Doppler radar measure velocity directly by using
Doppler Effect
• Doppler Effect – the frequency of the echo is
different from that of transmitted signal when
there is relative motion between the radar and
the target
DOPPLER RADARS
• The Doppler shift in frequency occurs when
there is relative movement between a signal
source & the signal receiver as a fixed
number of signal oscillation cycles is
stretched over an increasing distance or
compressed into a decreasing distance.
• The amount of changed fd, in Hz, in the
original frequency is fd= 2cos/ where
=velocity between the radar & the target
(m), = angle between the target’s line of
movement & a line between the radar & the
target, = signal wavelength (m)
Equation of Doppler Effect
Where
fD = frequency shift or
Doppler shift (Hz)
Vr = relative velocity of the 2Vr f i
source and the target
(m/s) along a line
fD 
between them; positive if c
the two are getting closer
otherwise negative
fi = incident frequency (Hz)
c = light velocity
• When the target is moving toward the
radar, the velocity is positive & the signal
shifts higher in frequency.
• For targets moving along the line between
radar & target,  is 0=1, so the Doppler
shift is at maximum; for targets moving
crosswise to the line between radar &
target,  is 90 and cos 90=0, so there
is no apparent shift in frequency.
• The relative velocity between the radar
system & the target is  cos .
• Example 1: What is the Doppler shift
when tracking a car moving away from the
radar at 100 mi/hr at 1 GHz?
• Solution: =0.3 m at 1 GHz & 1 mi/hr is
about 0.5 m/s
fd= 2 x (100 mi/hr)x(0.5 m/s  1
mi/hr) x cos 0 / 0.3 m
= 333 Hz, which is a very small
fraction of the frequency.
• Example 2: Repeat (1) when the frequency
is 10 GHz.
• Solution: the shift fd is now 10 times as
great, or 3330 Hz… this is why higher
frequencies are preferred in Doppler-based
systems, although the carrier frequency is
higher & the radar requires more complex
circuitry.
• In the moving target indicator (MTI)
pulsed radar, the Doppler shift is used to
minimized clutter effects & see only
targets that are moving.
• a typical example of MTI radar operate to
eliminate clutter & show only moving targets,
which may also have smaller echoes than
clutter.
• There is a problem in pulsed Doppler systems.
When the PRF equals the Doppler
frequency fd or any integer multiple of it, the
target velocity cannot be distinguished from the
stationary clutter & will appear to have no
Doppler shift at all.
• The relative velocity  cos that results in a
Doppler frequency equal to the PRF (or some
multiple of it) is called the blind speed, since
the radar system will not see the moving target
at this speed & confuses it with clutter.
• Blind speed b is given by
b =nPRF/2
• Where n= any integer (1,2, etc.); velocity
in m/s; PRF in Hz.
• Example: What is the first 3 blind speeds
at 1 GHz when the PRF is 1KHz?
• Solution: the 1st blind speed b = 1(0.3m)
x (1000 Hz)/2 = 150 m/s (about 300
mi/hr); the next blind speed is 300 m/s
(600 mi/hr); & the 3rd is 450 m/s (900
mi/hr).
Doppler Radar
Doppler Radar
Doppler Radar
• It can only measure the velocity
component along a line that joins the
source and the target
• This is not always the true velocity of the
target
• Doppler radar can use either pulse or
continuous wave
Doppler Radar (component
velocity)
Continuous Wave Radar
ADVANCED RADAR SYSTEMS
• The basic radar we have examined consists of a
transmitter, an antenna, and a receiver at the
same location & using frequencies from several
hundred MHz up to the GHz region.
• MONOSTATIC radar systems have their
transmitter & receiver in the same location &
usually share the same antenna. This
provides one perspective on the target, but a
limited one.
• In some situations more can be learned
about the target if the transmitter & receiver,
along with their antennas , are at different
locations.
• In a BISTATIC radar system, the transmitter &
receiver are separated by a baseline distance
with just one transmitter & receiver.
• When the baseline distance is approximately the
same or greater than the target distance, the
overall performance of the bistatic system differs
significantly from the monostatic one. It is
equivalent to shining a flashlight on an object in
a darkened room & then looking at the object
from the different position.
• Each position in the room reveals another
perspective on the object, which cannot be seen
simply by standing at the flashlight position.
• In radar, the target has a different effective
radar cross section, depending on the angle
between the transmitter & receiver.
• The bistatic radar system is often
expanded to a multistatic configuration
with multiple transmitters & 1 receiver.
• Each TX takes its turn in sending out the
radar pulse, and the receiver observes all the
echoes (knowing, of course, where each TX
is & which echo is from which TX signal).
• This gives the single receiver many
perspectives on the target.
• Radars using frequencies of hundreds of MHz
and above are limited to line-of-sight range
because of the propagation characteristics at
these frequencies.
• Greater ranges can be achieved only with higher
antennas, which is often impractical.
• An alternative is to use the principles of radar
but with frequencies in the range of 5 to 30 MHz
(wavelengths of 50 to 200 ft), where the signals
refract (bend) as they pass through the earth’s
ionosphere. The ionosphere acts essentially as a
mirror that reflects radar signals from the TX
over the horizon, to a target that returns some
amount of the signal, and some of this signal is
reflected back toward the radar site (fig 21.12).
• Because this allows the radar to see
targets, including low-flying aircraft, that
are beyond the horizon at ranges up to
2000 miles, it is called an over-the-
horizon (OTH) radar.
• A narrow transmitted beamwidth is
necessary to achieve a high degree of
angular resolution in a radar system, to
separate features & objects that are next
to each other but at approximately the
same range.
• For example, an airplane needs to see a map of
the ground & features below, but while these
rivers, roads, & lands are at approximately the
same range, it is their left-to-right angular
separation that is of interest.
• To achieve the desired fineness of angular
resolution, the beamwidth must be narrow and
therefore the antenna must be very large (have
a diameter of many wavelengths). This is not
possible in an airplane, of course.
• To overcome this limitation, synthetic
aperture (SAR) was developed.
• In an SAR system, the appearance of a
larger antenna is created by a clever &
complex method that takes advantage of
the movement of the airplane.
• A large no. of radar pulses are sent as
the airplane moves, and these are
combined to simulate a signal from a
single larger antenna. The effective size of
this synthesized antenna is equal to the
distance the airplane travels while taking
these multiple radar images.
• SAR has also been used to map the
surfaces of planets using aircraft or
satellite-based radar systems. (The 27-
antenna array in Mexico used for deep-
space satellites & planetary mapping is a
land-based SAR, spread over 20 miles.)
• The reason a SAR system is so complex is
that the many separates “exposures” must
be combined into one image. This is done
by delaying each echo by the appropriate
time & then performing complex signal
processing on all of them simultaneously
to produce the final radar image.
• The first echo is held the longest, the next one
is held a slightly shorter period of time, and so
on. The final result is that all the radar echoes,
which were generated at different times as the
aircraft (or spacecraft) traveled, are used to
develop the signal’s very high resolution
image.
• SAR is used to generate maps with astonishing
detail using a relatively small antenna with a
physical diameter of only a few meters but a
synthesized diameter of hundred of
meters. It has been used to provide detailed
maps of the surface of Venus, which is normally
covered by clouds that make standard telescope
useless.
• Newer SAR systems replace the analog delay
lines that hold the echo signal information with
digital signal processing (DSP).
• The echoes are digitized by extremely high
speed analog-to-digital converters, stored in a
computer memory, & then numerically
processed to produce the final result.
• This technique is costly but more accurate &
flexible than the preceding method, which
requires many precise delay lines to assure that
the many SAR echoes all come together at the
same time and is not easily adjusted for
different aircraft speeds, PRF, & similar factors.
• Combining many separate images of the
same object is not limited to SAR. Medical
instrumentation such as the CAT
(computerized axial tomography)
scanner & MRI (magnetic resonance
imaging) take thousands of narrow-beam
pictures around a patient which are then
combined by a computer into a single
meaningful picture.
Transponder
• It is a transmitter-receiver installed in the
target
• It responds to a radar pulse by transmitting
a signal that can identify the aircraft (flight
number and destination)
• In military transponders are part of an
“identification friend or foe” (IFF) designed
to prevent the friendly aircraft from being
attacked
Transponder
Stealth
• It refers to the technique for avoiding detection
of radar
• Details are kept secret
Basic Ways to Avoid Radar detection
1. Absorb radar waves rather than reflect them
2. Scatter the reflected signal to avoid returning a
strong signal to the hostile radar
3. Reduce the heat signature of the aircraft
Stealth Jet Fighter
Stealth Ship
Radar Frequencies
Doppler Frequencies
Attenuation
Attenuation