A Study on RCS of Missile Models using the Method of Moments

M. B. Perotoni.

, S. E. Barbin

CST GmbH, Darmstadt, Germany, PLZ D-64289, marcelo.perotonicst.com

Departamento de Engenharia de Telecomunicaes e Controle

Escola Politecnica da USP, So Paulo, SP, Brazil, barbinusp.br




Abstract Simulation of electromagnetic signals scattered by
objects is a complex issue, although its fundamentals have long
been known. In the design of modern military aircrafts and
vessels in general, advantages can be taken from their physical
properties for reducing the intensity of radar signals, which are
scattered back to the enemies. This leads to the definition of
stealth plane or ship. A couple of design guidelines should be
followed in order to achieve this goal. One of them is the
geometric optimization of the vehicle shape. Much of the
literature on this subject is classified; moreover, the computing
burden to tackle such a design is quite demanding. In this work,
a conventional PC running a commercial electromagnetic code
based on a modified Method of Moments is used to analyze four
different simplified missile models. Design rules are established
in view of reducing the monostatic Radar Cross Section (RCS)
scattered signal.
Index Terms Radar Cross Section, electromagnetic scattering,
numerical methods in electromagnetics, military aircraft.
I. INTRODUCTION

Reduction oI airplanes and vessels RCS is a very complex
topic, which started being studied in the 1960`s, although the
basic Iundamentals Ior the design oI an aircraIt with low RCS
date Irom the 1930`s. Due to the inherent classiIied
characteristics oI this research Iield, there is not much
inIormation available in public technical literature. In spite oI
this, some guidelines to achieve reduction oI the radar-
scattered energy are well known, using procedures such as |1|:
1. Coating with Radar Absorbing Materials (RAM):
materials, like Ierrite balls immersed in a synthetic polymer,
absorb the incident electromagnetic energy, and create an
internal magnetic Iield that dissipates the incident energy.
2. Proper Geometric Design: through a suitable shape
design, the scattered energy can be signiIicantly reduced, by
spreading the energy to other directions. As a matter oI Iact,
modern stealth aircraIt designs must rely on complex control
navigation systems, in order to stabilize the Ilight, since the
guidelines oI a stealth project in general do not comply with
aerodynamic rules.
3. Plasma Stealth |2|: a cloud oI ionized gas around the
object can interact with the incident electromagnetic radiation
to reduce the RCS.
Another interesting technique Ior reducing the RCS is the
use oI Electromagnetic Band Gap structures in the radomes
that cover the antennas |3|, which are the main parts
responsible Ior energy scattering.
The geometric design is a very complex task, and, even
though essentially based on Iundamental theories, has been
studied since the works oI KirchhoII and Fresnel |4|. Whereas
common objects, also called canonical, such as spheres, planes
and slits have their scattering properties analytically described,
real liIe structures present a much more diIIicult problem.
Computational approaches have to be used in order to tackle
real structures, Ior which Maxwell`s Equations are
numerically solved, using a discretized representation oI the
original model. Even Ior a numerical solution, the necessary
computational burden is not low, given the considerable sizes
oI airplanes and vessels, in terms oI wavelengths.
In this study, simulations are perIormed Ior missile models,
aiming at minimize their radar cross sections. The simulations
are done using a conventional PC, resulting in moderate
running time consumption. The conclusions that are drawn
show that the design oI objects with lower RCS, using the
techniques presented in this work, can be easily accomplished.

II. OVERVIEW OF THE NUMERICAL METHOD

Since the computation oI RCS depends on the scattered
electromagnetic energy oI the structure, its external surIace is
the most important characteristic to be considered in the
simulations. ThereIore, the internal parts oI the object are not
relevant, and meshing oI these parts can turn the problem
unIeasible, because this can lead to a very high number oI
cells. The use oI surIace meshing only results in a substantial
reduction in the total number oI cells when compared to
volume meshing. For the current study, the Method oI
Moments, as implemented in MICROWAVE STUDIO |5|,
is used. Another important Ieature guarantees that the matrixes
that represent the structures are not sparse. It is the use oI the
Multilevel Fast Multipole Method (MLFMM) |6|. Originally,
the elements in the matrix that represents the model are
coupled to each other. By the MLFMM the matrix is divided
into small boxes, which are then allowed to be coupled to
adjacent boxes, thereby creating an artiIicial sparse matrix.
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III. MISSILE MODELS

The analyzed structures have the dimensions shown in Fig.1
and were modeled using perIect electric conductors. For a
Irequency oI 750MHz, the structure is 6.25 long. For the
other models, minor geometrical modiIications were
implemented, as it is later explained.


Fig. 1 Basic dimensions oI the missile models in meters.

Fig. 2 presents the Iour diIIerent missile models used in the
simulations, whose descriptions Iollow.





Fig. 2 The Iour diIIerent missile models.

RCS1 is the most basic structure and represents the starting
geometry Ior the other structures. It comprises a cylinder oI
circular section with vertical and horizontal stabilizers and a
cone.
RCS2 results Irom a simple modiIication oI RCS1. Instead
oI a circular section, the cylindrical geometry has a 12 side
regular polygonal section, and because oI that, a 12 Iaces
sidewall.
RCS3 has a modiIied nose, in which, instead oI an abrupt
change Irom the cylinder to the cone, a smoother transition is
present.
RCS4 results Irom a similar modiIication as Ior RCS2. It
has a hexagonal proIile with rounded edges, instead oI the
original circular transversal section.

IV. SIMULATION SETUP AND RESULTS

The simulation is done using a linear polarized plane wave
excitation, as depicted in Fig. 3. The RCS is analyzed in the
Irequencies oI 750MHz and 900MHz. Because oI circular
symmetry, there is no diIIerence between TE and TM waves,
what signiIicantly simpliIies the study.



Fig. 3 Linear polarized plane wave with normal incidence on the missile.

Fig. 4 depicts the mesh used Ior the surIace oI model
RCS3. A triangular mesh was used and the number oI cells
was around 7000, as Ior the other models.


Fig. 4 Mesh Ior model RCS3 external surIace.

The simulations, using a PC with a 2GHz Dual Core
Processor and 2Gbytes RAM, took about 2.5 hours, Ior each
missile model. Fig.5 shows a 3D plot oI the RCS Ior the
2007 SBMO/IEEE MTT-S International Microwave & Optoelectronics Conference (IMOC 2007) 493
model RCS3 Ior the plane wave excitation shown in Irom
Fig.3.

Fig. 5 RCS 3D plot Ior model RCS3 in dBsm at 750MHz.

For the angle theta deIined in Fig.5, Fig.6 shows the RCS
oI the Iour missile models.


Fig. 6 2D plot oI the RCS Ior the Iour models in dBsm, as a Iunction oI
theta at 750MHz.


A monostatic radar conIiguration was considered, i.e., the
radar transmitter and receiver are at the same location |7|.
From Fig.6, it can be seen that there are some diIIerences in the
RCS`s. For theta equals 0, which is the direction where the
radar transceiver is located, the RCS`s are summarized in Table
I.
TABLE I
RCS Ior the diIIerent models Ior theta equals 0 in dBsm

RCS1 RCS2 RCS3 RCS4
0.03 0.88 -0.39 2.14


From the values shown in Table I, some conclusions can
be drawn, regarding the geometrical design oI the missiles.
For theta equals zero:

x a comparison between RCS1 and RCS2 shows that the
circular cylindrical proIile is better than the polygonal
one;
x a comparison between RCS4 and RCS2 shows that
smoother edges do not lead to a decrease in the RCS.
This is probably caused by the rounded tip, which is not
a perIect cone, as in the other models;
x the best result is achieved with RCS3 showing that
smoother curves in the nose can lead to a reduction in
the RCS.

Another interesting Ieature is the analysis oI the RCS
considering the radar Irequency. Fig. 7 shows Ior model RCS1
at Irequencies oI 750MHz and 900MHz.



Fig. 7 RCS polar plot at two Irequencies Ior model RCS1.

It can be seen that Ior lower Irequencies, the scattered
energy is higher, a behavior that is present in all models. This
Iollows the trend oI low Irequency radars speciIically
designed to track stealth Iighters. The perIormance oI these
radars is enhanced with higher processing capabilities, such as
Iiltering and noise reduction. Since the wavelength is oI the
same order as the Iuselage size, it is possible that the
dimensions oI some parts oI the airplane are multiples oI halI-
wavelength, thereby allowing return signals oI considerable
energy.

494 2007 SBMO/IEEE MTT-S International Microwave & Optoelectronics Conference (IMOC 2007)
Another useIul source oI inIormation to track potential
areas Ior shape optimization is the Iield plot. Fig. 8 shows the
magnetic Iield Ior the RCS1 model, at 750MHz.



Fig. 8 Magnetic Iield in the RCS1 model Ior a Irequency oI 750MHz.


From Fig. 8, it is possible to see that the Iield density on the
stabilizers is high in comparison to the ones on the Iuselage. It
is, thereIore, another region where the shape has to be
optimized.
V. CONCLUSIONS

A code using a modiIied Method oI Moments was used to
simulate the RCS oI simpliIied missile models in a
conventional PC.












Four diIIerent designs were analyzed, so that the
geometrical inIluence on the RCS could be determined.
Further simulations may lead to better optimization oI the
missile shape, towards the minimization oI the monostatic
RCS. The approach can be used to scaled versions as well,
such as airplanes and ships, as long as there is memory
available to handle the necessary computations.

REFERENCES

|1| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stealthtechnology.
|2| W.G. Swarner, L. Peters, 'Radar cross sections oI dielectric or plasma
coated conducting spheres and circular cylinders, IEEE Transactions on
Antennas and Propagation, vol.11, No.5, Sep.1963, pp. 558-569.
|3| S. Collardey, A.C. Tarot, P. Pouliguen, K. Mahdjoubi, 'Use oI
electromagnetic band-gap materials Ior RCS reduction, Microwave and
Optical Technology letters, vol. 44, Issue 6, Feb. 2005, pp. 546-550.
|4| M. Born, E. WolI, 'Principles of Optics, OxIord: Ed. Cambridge, sixth
edition, 1980.
|5| CST Microwave Studio 2006B, CST GmbH, www.cst.com.
|6| J. Song, L. C. Cheng, W.C. Chew, 'Multilevel Iast multipole algorithm
Ior electromagnetic scattering by large complex objetcs, IEEE
Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, vol.45, No.10, Oct.1997, pp.
1488-1493.
|7| C.A. Balanis, 'Antenna Theory, New York: J. Wiley and Sons, second
edition, 1997. ion, vol.11, No.5, Sep.1963, pp. 558-569.













2007 SBMO/IEEE MTT-S International Microwave & Optoelectronics Conference (IMOC 2007) 495