Tactical Radars for Ground Surveillance

VOLUME 12, NUMBER 2, 2000 LINCOLN LABORATORY JOURNAL 341 L  ’  in the arena of tactical battlefield surveillance began in 1967 with a program to develop a radar system that would penetrate jungle foliage and detect moving hostile intruders. This effort arose during the war in Vietnam, when major national laboratories were called upon to contribute solutions to tactical battlefield surveillance involving ground-based and airborne-based sensors. Ground-based sensors can be loosely grouped into two categories. Special ground-penetrating radar sensors are used to detect mines and other explosives as well as hidden tunnels and buried stores. Other ground-based radar systems are used to survey large regions of terrain within the sensors’ fields of view in order to detect and identify fixed ground targets and to detect, identify, and track moving ground targets. Airborne sensors designed for tactical battlefield surveillance require the ability to survey large areas on the ground in a timely manner in order to detect and identify both fixed and moving surface targets that may be hidden in ground clutter or protected by countermeasures. Lincoln Laboratory has developed a Tactical Radars for Ground Surveillance