Radar Cross Section of

Target
Dr.V.R.S.Mani
Associate Professor (SG)/ECE
NEC
 Radar Cross Section of Target
•Radar
  cross section is the measure of a target's ability to reflect radar
signals in the direction of the radar receiver,
•It is a measure of the
(from the target) to the power density that is intercepted by the target.

=
Unit
• Electromagnetic waves, with any specified polarization, are normally diffracted or scattered in all
directions when incident on a target.
• These scattered waves are broken down into two parts.
• The first part is made of waves that have the same polarization as the receiving antenna.
• The other portion of the scattered waves will have a different polarization to which the receiving
antenna does not respond.
• The two polarizations are orthogonal and are referred to as the Principle Polarization (PP) and
Orthogonal Polarization (OP), respectively.
• The intensity of the backscattered energy that has the same polarization as the radar’s receiving
antenna is used to define the target RCS.
• When a target is illuminated by RF energy, it acts like an antenna, and will have near and far fields.
• Waves reflected and measured in the near field are, in general, spherical.
• In the far field the wave fronts are decomposed into a linear combination of plane waves.
•  Assume the power density of a wave incident on a target located at
range R away from the radar is PDi.
• The amount of reflected power from the target is
Pr = σ P Di

σ denotes the target cross section.

The power density of the scattered waves at the receiving antenna
PDr = Pr / ( )
RCS is an important parameter in Target
Recognition.
• An aircraft target is very complex. It has a great many reflecting
elements and shapes. The RCS of real aircraft must be measured. It
varies significantly depending upon the direction of the illuminating
radar.
 Radar Cross Section of Target
• Calculation of the radar cross-section is only possible for simple objects.
• Surface area of simple geometric bodies depends on the shape of the body and
the wavelength.
• Ratio of the structural dimensions of the object to the wavelength.
• If absolutely all of the incident radar energy on the target were reflected equally
in all directions, then the radar cross-section would be equal to the target's
cross-sectional area as seen by the transmitter.
• In practice, some energy is absorbed and the reflected energy is not distributed
equally in all directions.
• Radar cross-section is quite difficult to estimate and is normally determined by
measurement.
Target radar cross-sectional area depends on:
• Target’s (aircraft’s) physical geometry and
exterior features.
• direction of the illuminating radar,
• radar transmitters frequency,
• type of material used.
 RCS Measurement
•  The RCS of a sphere is independent of frequency if operating at
sufficiently high frequencies
• where << Range, and << radius (r).
• Spherical shape aids in field or laboratory measurements since
orientation or positioning of the sphere will not affect radar reflection
intensity measurements as a flat plate would.
• If calibrated, other sources (cylinder, flat plate, or corner reflector,
etc.) could be used for comparative measurements.
• Sphere is symmetrical
• Experimentally, radar return reflected from a target is compared to
the radar return reflected from a sphere which has a frontal or
projected area of one square meter (i.e. diameter of about 44 in).
RCS of Flat Plate
• 
Calculation of the radar cross-section of a uniform sphere

•Radar cross-section (RCS) is the measure of a target's ability to reflect radar signals in the direction of the radar receiver, i.e.

it is a measure of the ratio of backscatter density in the direction of the radar (from the target) to the power density that is

intercepted by the target. Since the power is distributed on the shape of a sphere, a small part of this (4·π·) can be received

by the radar.
•Radar cross-section σ is as defined as:

σ =

σ: measure of the target's ability to reflect radar signals in direction of the radar receiver, in [m²]
: power density that is intercepted by the target, in [W/m²]
: scattered power density in the range r, in [W/m²]

•The RCS of a target can be viewed as a comparison of the strength of the reflected signal from a
target to the reflected signal from a perfectly smooth sphere of cross-sectional area of 1 m².
Reflected signal from a spherical shape
 
=π
 Reflected signal from a cylinder
  =
 Reflected Signal from a Flat Plate
 
=
Reflected Signal from a Tilted Flat Plate:
Real as the previous example. Unusual feature the energy is reflected in
another direction. Well, the transmitting radar cannot receive this energy.
Therefore there are bi static radars at which the transmitter and the
receivers are separated from each other spatially.
Target bac scatter from different shaped
• Targets such as ships and aircraft often have many effective corners.
Corners are sometimes used as calibration targets or as decoys, i.e.
corner reflectors.
RCS pattern of different shapes
• RCS patterns are shown as objects are rotated about their vertical axes
(the arrows indicate the direction of the radar reflections).
• The sphere is essentially the same in all directions.
• The flat plate has almost no RCS except when aligned directly toward
the radar.
• The corner reflector has an RCS almost as high as the flat plate but over
a wider angle, i.e., over ±60E.
• The return from a corner reflector is analogous to that of a flat plate
always being perpendicular to your collocated transmitter and receiver.
 RCS for Point-Like Targets

Targets RCS [m2] RCS [dB]

Bird 0.01 -20
Man 1 0
Cabin cruiser 10 10
Automobile 100 20
Truck 200 23
Corner reflector 20379 43.1

(Table from: M. Skolnik, “Introduction to radar systems”, 2nd Edition, McGraw-Hill, Inc 1980, page 44.

• Some targets have large values of RCS owing to their size and orientation and consequently, reflect a large portion
of the incident power. The beside table shows the values of RCS for some targets at X-Band

• The RCS of the corner reflector is given for a triangular reflector with a length of 1.5 m.)
Typical radar cross sections of Targets

• Missile 0.5 sq m;
• Tactical Jet 5 to 100 sq m;
• Bomber 10 to 1000 sq m; and
• Ships 3,000 to 1,000,000 sq m.
• RCS can also be expressed in decibels referenced to a square meter
(dBsm) which equals
• 10 log (RCS in m ).
• An aircraft target is very complex. It has a great many reflecting
elements and shapes. The RCS of real aircraft must be measured. It
varies significantly depending upon the direction of the illuminating
radar.
• The plot is an azimuth cut made at zero degrees elevation (on the
aircraft horizon).
• Within the normal radar range of 3-18 GHz, the radar return of an
aircraft in a given direction will vary by a few dB as frequency and
polarization vary. (the RCS may change by a factor of 2-5).
• It does not vary as much as the flat plate.
RCS of an Aircraft
 RCS of an Aircraft
• RCS is highest at the aircraft beam due to the large physical area observed
by the radar and perpendicular aspect (increasing reflectivity).
• The next highest RCS area is the nose/tail area, largely because of reflections
off the engines or propellers.
• Most self-protection jammers cover a field of view of +/- 60 degrees about
the aircraft nose and tail, thus the high RCS on the beam does not have
coverage.
• Beam coverage is frequently not provided due to inadequate power
available to cover all aircraft quadrants, and the side of an aircraft is
theoretically exposed to a threat 30% of the time over the average of all
scenarios.
 RCS of an Aircraft
• Figure 5 shows that these values can vary dramatically.
• Strongest return depicted in the example is 100 m2 in the beam,
• Weakest is slightly more than 1 m2 in the 135E/225E positions.
• These RCS values can be very misleading because other factors may
affect the results.
• For example, phase differences, polarization, surface imperfections, and
material type all greatly affect the results.
• In the above typical bomber example, the measured RCS may be much
greater than 1000 square meters in certain circumstances (90E, 270E).
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE REDUCTION OF
RCS
• If each of the range or power equations that have an RCS () term is
evaluated for the significance of decreasing RCS,
• Figure 6 results. Therefore, an RCS reduction can increase aircraft
survivability.
 Example of Effects of RCS Reduction
• As shown in Figure 6, if the RCS of an aircraft is reduced to 0.75 (75%)
of its original value, then
• (1) the jammer power required to achieve the same effectiveness
would be 0.75 (75%) of the original value (or -1.25 dB).
(2) If Jammer power is held constant, then burn-through range is 0.87
(87%) of its original value (-1.25 dB), and
(3) the detection range of the radar for the smaller RCS target
(jamming not considered) is 0.93 (93%) of its original value (-1.25 dB).
 Aspect angle of a Target
• The angle formed between the longitudinal axis of a projectile in flight
and the axis of a radar beam.
• The largest angle formed between LOS to target from RADAR and
targets longitudinal axis measured from tail of the target.
 Losses in Radar
Beam Shape Loss
– Radar return from target with scanning radar is modulated by
shape of antenna beam as it scans across target.
Can be 2 to 4 dB
Scanning Antenna Loss
• – For phased array antenna, gain of beam off boresight less than
• that on boresight
Plumbing Losses
• – Transmit waveguide losses
• – Rotary joints, circulator, duplexer
Signal Processing Loss
– A /D Quantization Losses
– Adaptive thresholding (CFAR) Loss
– Range straddling Loss
– Range and Doppler Weighting