Introduction to RCS measurements

In the 1980's new requirements were issued to make airframes meet criteria for low radar cross-section characteristics. These requirements simultaneously created a need for improvement of radar cross-section measurement techniques to validate the performance of the designs. Thus was the advent of the modern technologies of short pulse instrumentation radars, specially designed outdoor RCS ranges, advanced indoor compact ranges, and low RCS pylons for mounting and positioning the test articles. In this talk I review the current state of these technologies and the measurement systems they support.