Air Target Identification - concept to reality

This paper summarises our journey with radar-based Non-Cooperative Air Target Identification (NCTI) from initial concepts through to practical implementation by military users. Thus we will discuss the underpinning ideas and particularly the difficulties associated with making the techniques work in practice and the solutions we have found. We will discuss the three main approaches: Jet Engine Modulation (JEM), High Range Resolution Profiling (HRRP) and Range-Doppler Imagery (RDI). These are described well in [2]. Difficult issues such as robust database generation and confidence measures - at the heart of current research - will be considered also.