Bistatic radar using satellite-borne illuminators

Bistatic radar has long been recognised as an interesting variant of radar, with a number of potential advantages for air defence. Space-based radar is seen by the US Department of Defense as a key technique for future AMTI and GMTI applications, and the DISCOVERER II programme is indicative of current thinking, aiming ultimately at a network of several tens of satellites. This system would also involve bistatic receivers to give near-continuous surveillance. The purpose of this paper is to present a system concept for a bistatic radar using a satellite-based illuminator of opportunity and a static ground-based receiver. The paper presents system design and performance calculations, and describes experiments to be performed.