Detection Range Performance of AESA Radar with Variable Search Frame Time

Modern radars with active electronically scanned array (AESA) are capable of performing multi-functions, such as search, acquisition, and track for multiple targets. In the case of airborne AESA radar, interleaving of air-to-air and air-to-surface operation is also possible. To allocate sufficient radar resources to tasks of high priority (such as tracking targets with high threat), the time allocated to search task should be reduced, which can be accomplished by controlling search frame time. The search frame time can be reduced either by broadening beamwidth, reducing dwell time, or increasing beam spacing. In this paper, the detection range performance is analyzed for reduced search frame time by tuning either of the three parameters (beamwidth, dwell time, and beam spacing). In particular, two-dimensional multi-step interlaced scanning (MIS) is applied when beam spacing is changed, and it is shown that increasing beam spacing with MIS minimizes the degradation of the detection range performance as the search frame time is reduced.