Air Cmde Trilok Chand (Retd)

The last two decades saw the greatest strides in the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), especially for commercial use. Radar and related technological development pace, on the other hand, remained slow mainly due to their highly specialised applications and higher cost involved in hardware and infrastructure associated with these systems. Of late, the situation has changed dramatically, as many ICT applications have found their way into radar systems.

DRDO’s 3D Central Acquisition Radar

Advancements in nanotechnology and semiconductors have also contributed to miniaturisation and diversified utilities of the radar. Most radar applications are of dual-use in nature. Any radar designed for surveillance, weather, navigation and landing use can also be used for early warning, battlespace weather forecast, mission planning and recovery of military aircraft. Exclusive military applications such as tracking, fire control, identification of Friend and Foe (IFF) are also revolutionised equally by the newer radar technologies.

Basic radar range equation in its new avatars continues to inspire new design and innovations of both commercial and military radars. Important new radar technologies such as Multiple Inputs, Multiple Output (MIMO) systems, Digital Beam Forming (DBF) techniques, Active Electronically Steered Array (AESA) radar, millimetre wave radar, Passive Coherent Location Radar (PCLR) Systems, semiconductor Power Amplifiers (PA), Intelligent signal coding and radar Digital Signal Processing (DSP) have inspired many modern radar designs in recent times.

Multiple Inputs, Multiple Output Radar

MIMO radar technology has evolved from communication systems where it has been used for improving the coverage area and signal quality. MIMO radars