System and method for onboard detection of ballistic threats to aircraft
First Claim
1. A radar system for detecting a presence of a ballistic projectile, comprising:
- a source of radio frequency energy, sited remotely from a target, for illuminating airspace around the target;
a receiver, sited locally to the target, the receiver having first and second receiving channels, the first receiving channel configured to acquire a reference signal from the source, and the second receiving channel configured to acquire a second signal from the source, the second signal reflected by the projectile; and
a signal processor including a means for determining whether the projectile poses an imminent threat to the target.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A bi-static continuous wave radar system and related methods for detecting incoming threats from ballistic projectiles includes a remote source of RF illumination, and a local receiver installed in one or more target aircraft. A first receiving channel acquires direct path illumination from the source and provides a reference signal, and a second receiving channel acquires a scatter signal reflected by a projectile. A processor coupled to each receiver corrects scatter signal Doppler offset induced by relative source motion, isolates narrowband Doppler signals to derive signatures characteristic of the projectile, and by executing appropriate algorithms, compares the derived signatures to modeled signatures stored in memory. If the comparison yields a substantial similarity, the processor outputs a warning signal sufficient to initiate defensive countermeasures.
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Citations
67 Claims
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1. A radar system for detecting a presence of a ballistic projectile, comprising:
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a source of radio frequency energy, sited remotely from a target, for illuminating airspace around the target; a receiver, sited locally to the target, the receiver having first and second receiving channels, the first receiving channel configured to acquire a reference signal from the source, and the second receiving channel configured to acquire a second signal from the source, the second signal reflected by the projectile; and a signal processor including a means for determining whether the projectile poses an imminent threat to the target. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A radar system for detecting an imminent threat from a ballistic projectile, comprising:
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a source of radio frequency energy, sited remotely from a target, for illuminating airspace around the target; a receiver, sited locally to the target, the receiver having first and second receiving channels, the first receiving channel configured to acquire a reference signal from the source, and the second receiving channel configured to acquire a second signal from the source, the second signal reflected by the projectile; a signal processor, sited locally to the target, for processing the reflected signal and the reference signal to derive one or more characteristic signatures induced by the projectile, the signal processor further comprising; an analyzer for removing, from the reflected signal, Doppler effects caused by motion of the source; a discriminator for subtracting background noise from the reflected signal; one or more memory modules coupled to the processor for storing one or more modeled signatures; and detection logic for comparing the one or more derived characteristic signatures to the one or more modeled signatures; whereby if the comparison detects a substantial similarity between at least one of the characteristic signatures and at least one of the modeled signatures, the signal processor outputs a warning signal. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A method for detecting an imminent threat from a ballistic projectile, comprising:
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illuminating airspace around a target with a source of radio frequency energy, the source sited remotely from the target; receiving a reference signal from the source in a first channel of a receiver sited locally at the target; receiving, in a second channel of the receiver, a second signal from the source, the second signal reflected by the projectile; and processing the reflected signal and the reference signal to determine whether the projectile poses an imminent threat to the target. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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54. A method for detecting imminent threats from ballistic projectiles to one or more aircraft targets, comprising:
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illuminating airspace around the one or more targets with an RF transmitter sited remotely from the one or more targets; receiving, in a first channel of a receiver sited locally at each of the one or more targets, a reference signal from the transmitter; receiving, in a second channel of each receiver, a second signal from the transmitter, the second signal reflected by a projectile; subtracting background noise from the reflected signal received at each of the one or more targets; deriving, at each of the one or more targets, one or more characteristic signatures of the projectile, from the reflected signal and the reference signal received at each of the one or more targets; comparing the one or more derived signatures to one or more modeled signatures stored in a memory; and producing a warning signal if at least one of the derived signatures is substantially similar to at least one of the modeled signatures. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67)
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Specification