SOURCE: AFI
In a significant leap toward countering advanced stealth technologies, India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is developing a multistatic radar system designed to detect stealth aircraft and other low-observable targets. This cutting-edge radar technology leverages spatial diversity and non-traditional configurations to overcome the limitations of conventional monostatic radar systems, positioning India at the forefront of modern air defense capabilities. With stealth platforms becoming increasingly prevalent in modern warfare, DRDO’s multistatic radar promises to enhance India’s ability to secure its airspace against evolving threats.
Stealth technologies, employed by advanced aircraft, drones, and missiles, rely on radar-absorbing materials (RAM), geometric shaping, and electronic countermeasures to minimize their radar cross-section (RCS). These techniques are optimized to evade monostatic radar systems, where the transmitter and receiver are co-located. By redirecting or absorbing radar waves, stealth platforms reflect minimal energy back to the monostatic receiver, rendering them nearly invisible to traditional radar systems.
However, stealth designs are less effective against multistatic radar systems, which utilize multiple, geographically dispersed transmitters and receivers. Unlike monostatic radar, which relies on direct reflections, multistatic radar captures scattered signals that stealth platforms redirect away from the transmitter. This spatial diversity allows the system to detect reflections from angles that conventional radars cannot, significantly improving the detection of low-RCS targets. The principle is akin to triangulation in interferometry, where multiple observation points are used to pinpoint a target’s location with high precision.
The DRDO’s multistatic radar project is a strategic response to the growing proliferation of stealth technologies, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region, where adversaries like China are deploying advanced stealth aircraft such as the J-20 and J-31. While specific details of the program remain classified, sources indicate that the DRDO is focusing on a networked radar system that integrates multiple transmitter-receiver pairs operating in a coordinated manner. By leveraging advanced signal processing, machine learning algorithms, and data fusion techniques, the system aims to reconstruct a comprehensive picture of the battlespace, even in the presence of stealth platforms.
The multistatic radar system operates by transmitting radar signals from one or more locations and receiving the reflected signals at multiple, spatially separated receivers. This configuration exploits the fact that stealth designs, while effective at redirecting energy away from a monostatic radar, cannot eliminate reflections entirely. Scattered signals, which may be redirected in various directions, can be captured by distributed receivers, allowing the system to detect and track targets that would otherwise remain invisible. Additionally, multistatic radar is less susceptible to jamming and electronic countermeasures, as the separation of transmitters and receivers complicates efforts to disrupt the system.
Technical Advantages and ApplicationsThe DRDO’s multistatic radar offers several technical advantages over traditional radar systems:
- Enhanced Stealth Detection: By capturing reflections from multiple angles, the system can detect low-RCS targets, such as stealth aircraft, drones, and cruise missiles, that are designed to evade monostatic radar.
- Improved Resilience: The distributed nature of multistatic radar makes it harder for adversaries to jam or destroy the system, as targeting a single node does not disable the entire network.
- Better Clutter Rejection: Multistatic radar can distinguish targets from background clutter more effectively, as it analyzes signals from multiple perspectives, reducing false positives.
- Wide-Area Coverage: The networked configuration enables coverage of vast areas, making it ideal for monitoring India’s extensive borders and maritime zones.
Beyond stealth detection, the multistatic radar system has potential applications in missile defense, maritime surveillance, and tracking hypersonic weapons, which often employ low-observable technologies. The system’s ability to integrate with India’s Integrated Air Defence System (IADS), including assets like the S-400, Akash, and indigenous Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) systems, will enhance situational awareness and response capabilities.
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