Multistatic radar
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In a multistatic radar system the transmitter and receiver are positioned in different locations. The separation can vary from a few hundred meters to a hundred kilometers or so. The system is not confined to one receiver. Several receiver systems may be operated with one common transmitter. When there is only one transmitter and one receiver the system is called bistatic.
Benefits
Multistatic radar is naturally more resilient against electronic countermeasures since the enemy cannot detect the location of the receivers — because it is a passive radar the enemy cannot direct jamming against the receiver. The multiple receivers use passive components which are cheaper.
Drawbacks
Because more systems are required, more land is needed, which may incur rental costs. There is a high computational cost because the standard Fast Fourier transform cannot be used, since an FFT algorithm requires constant intervals of sampling which is not usually the case in multistatic radar.
External links
- Australian OTHR (http://www.dsto.defence.gov.au/corporate/history/othr/index.html)Template:Physics-stub