From a different perspective: principles, practice and potential of bistatic radar

Abstract

Bistatic radar systems have been studied and built since the earliest days of radar. They have the advantages that the receivers are passive, and hence undetectable. The receiving systems are also potentially simple and cheap. Bistatic radar may have a counter-stealth capability, since target shaping to reduce monostatic RCS will in general not reduce the bistatic RCS. In spite of those advantages, rather few bistatic radar systems have got past the 'technology demonstrator' phase. It has also been remarked that activity in bistatic radar tends to vary on a period of approximately fifteen years, and that currently we are at a peak of that cycle; there is particular current interest in passive coherent location (PCL) techniques, using broadcast and communications signals as 'illuminators of opportunity'. This paper presents a review of some of the history, and the properties and current developments in the subject, and conjectures whether or not the present interest is just another peak in the cycle.