Unit 4: Electronics in Defence

4.1 Radar: Radar basics, Block diagram and working principle,

4.2 Receivers, Transmitters.
4.3 Radar Antennas including Reflectors and Phased Array Antennas
4.2 Sonar: Introduction to Sonar, Block diagram and working principle
What is a Radar System?

RADAR stands for Radio Detection and Ranging System. It is basically an electromagnetic system used to
detect the location and distance of an object from the point where the RADAR is placed. It works by radiating
energy into space and monitoring the echo or reflected signal from the objects. It operates in the UHF and
microwave range.

A radar is an electromagnetic sensor, used to notice, track, locate, and identify different objects which are at
certain distances. The working of radar is, it transmits electromagnetic energy in the direction of targets to
observe the echoes and returns from them. Here the targets are nothing but ships, aircraft, astronomical
bodies, automotive vehicles, spacecraft, rain, birds, insects, etc. Instead of noticing the target’s location and
velocity, it also obtains their shape and size sometimes.
Basic design of radar system
The following figure shows the operating principle of a primary radar set. The radar antenna illuminates the target with a microwave signal, which is then
reflected and picked up by a receiving device. The electrical signal picked up by the receiving antenna is called echo or return. The radar signal is generated
by a powerful transmitter and received by a highly sensitive receiver.
All targets produce a diffuse reflection i.e. it is reflected in a wide number of directions. The reflected signal is
also-called scattering. Backscatter is the term given to reflections in the opposite direction to the incident rays.
Radar signals can be displayed on the traditional plan position indicator (PPI) or other more advanced radar
display systems. A PPI has a rotating vector with the radar at the origin, which indicates the pointing direction of
the antenna and hence the bearing of targets.
•Transmitter
The radar transmitter produces the short duration high-power rf pulses of energy that are into space by the
antenna.
•Duplexer
The duplexer alternately switches the antenna between the transmitter and receiver so that only one antenna
need be used. This switching is necessary because the high-power pulses of the transmitter would destroy the
receiver if energy were allowed to enter the receiver.
•Receiver
The receivers amplify and demodulate the received RF-signals. The receiver provides video signals on the
output.
•Radar Antenna
The Antenna transfers the transmitter energy to signals in space with the required distribution and efficiency.
This process is applied in an identical way on reception.
•Indicator
The indicator should present to the observer a continuous, easily understandable, graphic picture of the relative
position of radar targets.
The radar screen (in this case a PPI-scope) displays the produced from the echo signals bright blibs. The
longer the pulses were delayed by the runtime, the further away from the center of this radar scope they are
displayed. The direction of the deflection on this screen is that in which the antenna is currently pointing.
Radar Principle
The electronic principle on which radar operates is very similar to the principle of sound-wave reflection. If
you shout in the direction of a sound-reflecting object (like a rocky canyon or cave), you will hear an echo. If
you know the speed of sound in air, you can then estimate the distance and general direction of the object.
The time required for an echo to return can be roughly converted to distance if the speed of sound is known.

Radar uses electromagnetic energy pulses in much the same way, as shown in Figure. The radio-frequency
(rf) energy is transmitted to and reflected from the reflecting object. A small portion of the reflected energy
returns to the radar set. This returned energy is called an ECHO, just as it is in sound terminology. Radar sets
use the echo to determine the direction and distance of the reflecting object.
RADAR is an electromagnetic based detection system that works by radiating electromagnetic waves and then studying the echo or the reflected back waves.
The full form of RADAR is RAdio Detection And Ranging. Detection refers to whether the target is present or not. The target can be stationary or movable, i.e., non-
stationary. Ranging refers to the distance between the Radar and the target.
Radars can be used for various applications on ground, on sea and in space. The applications of Radars are listed below.
•Controlling the Air Traffic
•Ship safety
•Sensing the remote places
•Military applications
In any application of Radar, the basic principle remains the same. Let us now discuss the principle of radar.
Basic Principle of Radar
Radar is used for detecting the objects and finding their location. We can understand the basic principle of Radar from the following figure.

As shown in the figure, Radar mainly consists of a transmitter and a receiver. It uses the same Antenna for both transmitting and receiving the signals. The function of
the transmitter is to transmit the Radar signal in the direction of the target present.
Target reflects this received signal in various directions. The signal, which is reflected back towards the Antenna gets received by the receiver.
Terminology of Radar Systems
Following are the basic terms, which are useful in this tutorial.
•Range
•Pulse Repetition Frequency
•Maximum Unambiguous Range
•Minimum Range

Range
The distance between Radar and target is called Range of the target or simply range, R. We know that Radar transmits a signal to the target and
accordingly the target sends an echo signal to the Radar with the speed of light, C.
Let the time taken for the signal to travel from Radar to target and back to Radar be ‘T’. The two way distance between the Radar and target will be 2R,
since the distance between the Radar and the target is R.
Now, the following is the formula for Speed.
Speed=DistanceTimeSpeed=DistanceTime
⇒Distance=Speed×Time⇒Distance=Speed×Time
⇒2R=C×T⇒2R=C×T
R=CT2Equation1R=CT2Equation1
We can find the range of the target by substituting the values of C & T in Equation 1.
In this chapter, let us learn about the Antennas, which are useful in Radar communication. We can classify the
Radar Antennas into the following two types based on the physical structure.

•Parabolic Reflector Antennas

•Lens Antennas

In our subsequent sections, we will discuss the two types of Antennas in detail.
Parabolic Reflector Antennas
Parabolic Reflector Antennas are the Microwave Antennas. A knowledge of parabolic reflector is essential to
understand about working of antennas in depth.

Principle of Operation

Parabola is nothing but the Locus of points, which move in such a way that its distance from the fixed point
(called focus) plus its distance from a straight line (called directrix) is constant.
The following figure shows the geometry of
parabolic reflector. The points F and V are the
focus (feed is given) and the vertex respectively.
The line joining F and V is the axis of
symmetry. P1Q1,P2Q2P1Q1,P2Q2 and P3Q3P3Q
3 are the reflected rays. The line L represents the
directrix on which the reflected points lie (to say
that they are being collinear).

Properties of Parabola
Following are the different properties of Parabola −
•All the waves originating from focus reflect back to the parabolic axis. Hence, all the waves reaching the
aperture are in phase.
•As the waves are in phase, the beam of radiation along the parabolic axis will be strong and concentrated.
A phased array antenna is an array antenna whose single radiators can be fed with different phase shifts.
As a result, the common antenna pattern can be steered electronically. The electronic steering is much more
flexible and requires less maintenance than the mechanical steering of the antenna.
Advantages:
•high antenna gain with large side-lobe attenuation
•very fast change of beam direction (in range of microseconds)
•high beam agility
•arbitrary space scanning
•freely selectable dwell time
•multi-function operation by simultaneous generation of multiple beams
•failure of some components does not result in a complete system failure.

Disadvantages:
•limited scanning range (up to max. 120° in azimuth and elevation)
•Deformation of the antenna pattern during beam steering
•low frequency agility
•very complex structure (computer, phase shifter, data bus to each radiator)
•high costs (still)
The principle of this antenna is based on the effect of interference, i.e. a phase-dependent superposition
of two or (usually) several radiation sources. It can be observed that in-phase signals amplify each other
and counter-phase signals cancel each other out. So if two radiators emit a signal in the same phase shift,
a superposition is achieved - the signal is amplified in the main direction and attenuated in the secondary
directions. Here in the left radiator group in both radiators are fed with the same phase. The signal is
amplified in the main direction therefore.
In the second graphic, the signal from the upper radiator is transmitted phase-shifted by 22° (i.e., slightly
delayed) than from the lower radiator. Therefore, the main direction of the signal emitted in common is
slightly steered upwards.
SONAR
SONAR stands for Sound Navigation and Ranging. SONAR is a process of communicating or detecting objects
underwater. It is generally used by ships, submarines to detect underwater objects like rocks, icebergs which
causes serious risk to the ships. Submarines also communicate with the help of SONAR and during wars military
ships and submarines and detect underwater torpedo and missile attack with the help of SONAR. So, it serves for
plenty of uses but let’s first understand the working of SONAR.

Working of the SONAR

SONAR works using ultrasonic waves. A transmitter and receiver are used in SONAR techniques. The whole
device has been loaded into the ship. Ultrasonic waves or ultrasound are generated by the transmitter. These
waves travel across water. Waves pass through water and hit objects submerged or on the seabed. These waves are
reflected by objects or the seabed after they strike. As a result, the receiver collects these waves. The ultrasonic
waves are then converted into electrical signals, which are studied to determine underwater conditions and
obstacles.
Below defined are the terms related to the working of the SONAR:
• Emitter & Transmitter: An emitter or transmitter is a device that produces ultrasonic sound waves and
sends them to different directions of the ship or submarines.
• Receiver: A receiver, sometimes also called a detector is a device that detects and receives the echo coming
from the transmitted waves coming from different objects and analyses them to find the distance of the objects
and many more such things.
• Ultrasonic Waves: Ultrasonic waves or ultrasound are those sound waves that have a frequency greater than
20kHz (or 20,000 Hz).
Principle:
It is based on the principle of Echo – Sounding. When the Ultrasonic waves are transmitted through water, it is reflected by the objects in the
water and will produce an echo signal. The change in frequency of the echo signal, due to Doppler Effect helps us in determining the velocity
and direction of the object.

Description:
It consists of timimg section which triggers the electric pulse from the pulse generator. This pulse generator is connected to the transducer so that
ultra sonic can be produced. The transducer is further connected with the CRO for display. The timing section is also connected to the CRO display
or reference of the timing at which the pulse is transmitted as shown in the block diagram(Figure 1.6.1).
Uses of SONAR
Sonar technology is primarily used to calculate the depth, range, and direction of presence of objects. Below
are some uses of sonar technology:
•For underwater communications, ships and submarines use special sonars.
•Sonar is used in medical imaging to detect cysts and cancer cells, and this process is known as sonogram.
•It is used by the military to track enemy warships and submarines.
•Sonar is often used to monitor pipelines that transport oil and gas in order to detect potential damage.
•It is used for many scientific sea researches to measure features like depth of the sea at point.
•It is used by fisherman to locate the shoals of fishes.