Moving Platform FOPEN Radar Prototype Development

The report describes work to develop a flying prototype airborne foliage penetration FOPEN Radar. A 140 MHz base station FOPEN radar was mounted in a DC-3 aircraft with the antenna mounted perpendicular to the flight path. Data was gathered which enabled the radar cross section of different types of foliage to be determined. A target of known radar cross section, a corner reflector, was fabricated and used to calibrate the system. Measurements were then made on different types of targets located in the open and concealed by foliage. The targets included the corner reflector, small to large trucks, two artillery pieces, and a UH-1D helicopter both with and without rotor blade movement. In parallel with the data gathering program, a primary signal processordisplay system was developed based on the Fast Fourier Transform FFT , a reliable off-the-shelf minicomputer, and an operators display with interactive graphics. The system was completed and used to process, analyze and display the 140 and 50 MHz data.