Radar Signature of a Helicopter Illuminated by a Long LFM Signal

Helicopters exhibit a very particular Doppler radar signature caused by the movement of rotor blades. This signature can easily be derived using a short-time approximation: the blades are assumed to be static during each pulse. In wideband linear frequency modulated (LFM) radars, however, this assumption cannot be made. The work presented here describes the echo of rotary blades illuminated by LFM radars without the short-time assumption and provides useful information for detection and recognition purposes.