Antennas for High Speed Target Acquisition and Tracking System

MARK Resources, Inc. was founded in 1974 by several experienced engineers who wanted to establish a creative work environment for advancing state-of-the-art radar system technology. Today, MARK Resources has a worldwide reputation for excellence in radar-related engineering R&D. Based in Torrance, California, the company has built a team of productive professionals with unique qualifications and an exceptional record of achievement in three principal technical areas: radar signal processing, radar simulation, and radar systems.

MARK Resources has mounted a set of antennas developed by Cobham Antenna Systems (Microwave Antennas) in an array on a specially designed frame to meet the requirements for their new radar system.

The radar is officially called the High-Speed Target Acquisition and Tracking System (abbreviated as HSTAT system), developed under the SBIR program with the US Air Force. It is designed to image and track multiple clustered objects. MARK Resources advise that the antenna array is working exactly as required.

In order for the radar to meet its performance specification Cobham Antenna Systems, Microwave Antennas had to design the antennas and frame to guarantee that isolation between the C-Band transmit antenna and all five receive antennas was at least 70dB. The spacing between the antennas combined with the 20 degree beams for each ensured that this critical specification was met. Cobham utilised its state of the art anechoic test chamber, normally used for precision spherical antenna pattern measurements, to test for high level isolation.