Enhanced projectile path estimation using multi-vehicle FMCW radar sensors.

Area of Science:

• Radar Systems Engineering
• Defense Technology
• Signal Processing

Background:

• Accurate projectile path estimation is critical for military vehicle active protection systems.
• Existing single-sensor approaches have limitations in precision and robustness.
• Frequency-Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) radar offers potential for enhanced sensing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a multi-sensor FMCW radar approach for improved projectile path estimation.
• To quantify the accuracy gains in key path parameters (range, time, velocity).
• To assess the feasibility of near-term deployment using existing technology.

Main Methods:

• Implementing a distributed multi-vehicle FMCW radar sensing network.
• Applying advanced signal processing techniques for data fusion.
• Conducting detailed simulations to analyze performance against single-vehicle systems.
• Validating theoretical predictions of triangulation benefits.

Main Results:

• A four-vehicle formation demonstrated approximately 75% error reduction in projectile path parameter estimation.
• Significant improvements observed in pass range, pass time, and velocity accuracy.
• Triangulation from multiple sensing positions proved robust for linear trajectories.

Conclusions:

• The proposed multi-sensor FMCW radar approach substantially enhances projectile path estimation accuracy.
• This advancement offers practical benefits for improving military active protection systems.
• The methodology is compatible with current FMCW radar technology and data fusion algorithms, enabling rapid deployment.