IEEE - Aerospace and Electronic Systems - August 2022 - 40

Integrating Multiband Active and Passive Radar for Enhanced Situational Awareness
network in the form of active-passive radars were spatially
deployed in numerous different locations in the north-west of
Poland. The distances between the sensors were several dozen
kilometers, and the entire theatre of tested scenarios consisted
ofhundreds by hundreds ofkilometers in size.
From SET-258 RTG, the APART-GAS trials are a
continuation of a long-running effort within the NATO
STO scientific community to integrate active and passive
surveillance sensors in an optimal way. The sensor types
have very different advantages and properties, and a surveillance
system composition can be optimized for each
scenario or by availability.
The active monostatic radars have easily predictable
Figure 7.
WUT multichannel passive radar antenna system.
SCENARIO DESCRIPTION
OVERVIEW
The NATO Science and Technology Organization (STO)
trial measurement campaign took place on September 3-13,
2019 in Poland. Held under the code name APART-GAS,
this trial campaign was attended by over 70 participants from
seven NATO countries, as well as Switzerland, Sweden, and
Australia. It was a joint effort oftwo NATO SET/RTGs and
focused on innovative passive radar systems. In particular:
SET-242/RTG on passive coherent locators on
mobile platforms;
SET-258 on DMPAR deployment and assessment in
military scenario.
Themain objectives ofthe APART-GAScampaign clearly
contributed to andwere consistent with the overall target sets of
SET-242 and SET-258 RTGs. In the case ofthe former, as part
ofthe APART-GAS trials, a number ofpassive radar tests were
carried out on mobile platforms, with one sensor tested on a car
platform in motion, two on a ship, and five sensors were
installed on-board three aircraft. The main objectives of SET258
included a verification ofthe DMPAR concept, developed
earlier under NATO SET-152 and SET-195, using many new
military scenarios defined previously by the SET-258 members.
Also, at further stages of the activity, the primary data
were registered from the active and passive radar networks to
implement and test new DMPAR data fusion algorithms. During
the campaign, passive radar sensors developed by PITRADWAR
SA, Hensoldt, armasuisse, and WUTwere applied,
using the following waveform modulations ofcommercial illuminators:
FM, DAB, and DVB-T. In addition, active radars
operated by the Polish Armed Forces General Command HQ
participated in the trials, as well the passive emitter tracker system
from TUBITAK, Turkey. All components ofthe DMPAR
40
MAIN GOALS
The main goal of conducting these trials and further work
was to achieve enhanced air situation awareness. It can be
achieved by building a radar system where active and passive
radar sensors are used. Combining data from these
sensors should be made by utilizing multitarget multisensor
fusion conducted in real time. In this way, the following
achievements can be made:
increased detection area, as well as filling gaps
caused by monostatic geometry;
detection occurs more frequently;
detecting higher number of targets;
increased capabilities of stealth targets' detection;
more robust and resistant to interference caused by
other radar systems-passive radars can be reconfigured
to use different transmitters in a simple matter;
increased early warning capabilities.
IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE
AUGUST 2022
performance but may be vulnerable to emitter location
systems. The passive bistatic radars (PBR) are difficult to
locate, but the performance can be more complex to predict
and understand due to the bistatic nature and reliance
on third-party signal sources. However, great advances in
this regard have been made in the later years, and passive
radar manufacturers now have good tools for sensor placement
optimization and performance prediction.
Besides the covert operation, the PBR's most prominent
feature is the high update rate, normally more than 2
updates per second. This aids in the accurate tracking of
highly maneuvering targets. In addition, broadcast transmissions
are commonly at lower frequencies in the VHF
and UHF range, which may aid in the detection of lowobservable
targets [26]. Also, the PBRs do not themselves
have such significant silent cones without target detection
above the sensors. Some of these properties will be shown
in the results of this article.
IEEE - Aerospace and Electronic Systems - August 2022

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