IEEE - Aerospace and Electronic Systems - April 2022 - 18

Multifunction Maritime Radar and RF Systems-Technology Challenges and Areas of Development
recorded during the development stage of the system as
well as using existing data from other component systems.
Specific areas may need more consideration than are
currently used in most radar or RF system models. For
example, the impact of multiple RF signals on a single
antenna design. More effort may be required to model the
RF components to examine features such as filtering, cross
talk, spurious emissions, etc. Previous studies have undertaken
a modeling approach but the modeling should be
continually updated by using modern components and taking
feedback from experiments.
When comparing an MFRFS to the existing system of
systems, factors such as wooding, coverage and interference
needs to be considered. Near-field RF propagation
modeling with detailed computer aided design of the ship
and antennas are needed. These studies are traditionally
undertaken for the evaluation of radiation hazards or interference
but the impact of antenna placement must be a
key factor in comparative studies.
The modeling approach may need different layers of
modeling fidelity. For example, highly detailed antenna models
may not be needed to directly run alongside the RRM
models but they need to inform the RRM level model.
Combing all the MFRFS subsystems into a single
model at the fidelity required to examine the RF signal or
task scheduling is a novel undertaking. Building a full
model from scratch would be expensive so a review of
existing models and the strategy to combine them would
be the first step to take. The use of open architectures to
allow subcomponent models to talk to each other may be
needed so that existing models from different developers
can be combined.
PROCUREMENT PHILOSOPHY
The key to procuring an MFRFS is that the multifunctionality
should be the design driver rather than just being a
" radar with benefits. "
That means a holistic approach to procurement should be
taken, weighing up the performance ofeach and all functions.
Whilst a particular system based around an individual function
could potentially outperform the MFRFS, the overall
performance across all functions should be better than the
performance ofa collection ofindividual systems.
A key limitation to ship borne RF systems is the physical
properties such as size and weight and then the ability
to mount a system at the prime spot on top of the mast.
This may well result in a tradeoff in terms ofthe capability
of the MFRFS versus platform size. An integrated
approach to platform and MFRFS procurements may well
be needed to optimize the topside design to accommodate
the best possible MFRFS. Integrating an MFRFS into the
platform design and situating a host of RF systems topmast,
may actually mean a smaller vessel is required to
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enable all the platform's roles. This could, potentially, significantly
reduce the cost ofa platform.
When conducting the performance analysis, it is essential
to consider the location of the antenna and the impact of
obscuration (wooding) on all functions. Significant performance
benefits should be seen by functions exploiting the
topmast position over traditionally distributed antennas.
The consideration ofEMC and EMI will be integral to
the design of an MFRFS so must be included in any system
of system analysis. The spectrum requirements for
high bandwidth operation may also need to be considered,
particularly for peace time operations, in home waters.
The MFRFS operators can be trained on one coherent
system albeit with many functions. The human interfaces
may be more familiar to the operators as they all stem
from one system. Maintainers can also be trained to familiarize
themselves with one system rather than many separate
courses on different equipment.
CONCLUSION
STATE OF THE ART
In order to extend the functionality of a future MFRFS
over current MFRs significantly different design approaches
must be taken.
There are a number of key technologies that have been
developed in the wider commercial and research community
that are seen as required to support future MFRFS. These
include technologies to enable element level digitization,
widebandRF digitization, element and receiver hardware miniaturization,
and processing ofMIMOandAI to support RRM.
These technologies are beginning to be seen in demonstrators
and in-service radars from countries such as Australia
and the United States.
FUTURE SYSTEMS
There are a wide range ofpotential functions that an MFRFS
can employ that go well beyond the traditional radar roles.
These include ESM, EA, and wireless communications as
well as the traditional search, track, and discrimination.
Key technologies to enable these functions are based
around the ability to operate with a high bandwidth at multiple
bands. Other technologies can be employed to allow
greater flexibility in the way an MFRFS operates. Technology
such as conformal or distributed arrays may operate in
a radically different way from traditional scanning radar.
In the same way that the system design must embrace
a different approach, the procurement of an MFRFS must
also mirror the changes. In particular, the procurement
philosophy has to embrace the multifunctionality from the
start rather than considering a primary radar system with
IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE
APRIL 2022

IEEE - Aerospace and Electronic Systems - April 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE - Aerospace and Electronic Systems - April 2022