Tactical Forward Area Surveillance and Control Internetting Study. Volume I. Summary.

A tactical air surveillance and control system concept for tracking large numbers of aircraft, many of which are highly maneuverable and capable of flying at low altitudes, is analyzed. The survivable, automated, non-hierarchically netted system investigated provides continuous, non-redundant System Tracks for tactical air control. Nine alternative netted system configurations are defined and analyzed. These differ by radar mode track-while-scan or computer-directed-track, track file structure and location, and whether or not all radars or only selected ones are used to track each aircraft. Flow charts, and communications and data processing requirements are developed for each configuration. Some versions are simulated in the TACRAN Tactical Air Control Radar Net distributed system simulation developed during the study. The real-time data processing functions required by such a system are investigated, with emphasis on track initiation, association, and filtering. Parametric analyses of algorithms for these functions provide measures of their performance under a variety of conditions and also determine the accuracy and rates required of the radar measurements. The results demonstrate that the system concept is feasible with reasonable radar, communications, and data processing requirements. Author