Next Generation Airport Surveillance Radar (ASR-( )) Definition Study

A study group was convened in the Summer of 1974 by the Federal Aviation Administration FAA to define the characteristics of the next generation airport surveillance radar ASR. This was designated as the ASR- . The study group was comprised of representatives from MIT Lincoln Laboratory, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, MITRE, NAFEC, AAF, AAT, ASP, AEM and ARD. The operational requirements developed for the ASR- include coverage on a small aircraft one square meter radar cross section out to 40 nautical miles up to 15,000 feet altitude at elevation angles of 0.3 to 30 degrees in an environment of precipitation clutter, ground clutter, angel clutter, and anomalous propagation and with a resolution commensurate with a separation standard of 2 nautical miles at a range of 30 nautical miles. Reliability, maintainability, and availability should be equal to that of the ASR-7 and ASR-8. Using the operational requirements, candidate radar systems were defined at four frequencies VHF 420-450 MHz, L-band 1250-1350 MHz, and S-band 2700-2900 MHz and 5-band 3500-3700 MHz. The recommended system is the L-band system which has the following characteristics azimuth beamwdith of 2.25 degrees, PRF of 1100-1360 pps, data rate of 4 sec., instrumented range of 60 nmi and a pulse width of 1.0 usec.