Radar Cross Section

Radar cross section (RCS) is a crucial characteristic that determines how much energy an object reflects back towards a radar. This feature has gained significant importance for military customers worldwide, as it helps assess the ease with which an object can be detected. To ensure that your platform meets its radar signature design goals, NSI-MI offers state-of-the-art RCS measurement systems. With our sophisticated measurement systems, you can evaluate the RCS of various land-based, sea-going, and airborne platforms. Whether you need to measure the RCS of a small-scale prototype or a full-scale vehicle, our systems deliver precise results, allowing you to make informed decisions.

RCS characterization can be obtained in a variety of test configurations. NSI-MI works closely with customers to analyze RCS needs and operational aspects to determine the most cost-effective measurement solution. While the type of facility used impacts the types of measurements that can be performed, NSI-MI Technologies has the experience and the technical know-how to design, install and operate the most efficient RCS facility to meet your needs for evaluation and diagnosis.

Evaluation

Evaluation consists of measuring the "whole body" RCS of a target at a particular frequency over various aspect angles to determine a radar signature level for the entire platform. This information is used to estimate how easily a radar will be able to detect the target. An evaluation measurement normally is used to transmit a single frequency toward the target in order to sample the return. The target is rotated by one or more axes to assess the absolute RCS for the target over a spatial sector.

Diagnosis

The goal of diagnosis is to characterize the radar reflections caused by the targets' components (wings, fuselage, engines, etc.). With this information, an object's design can be changed to reduce its RCS signature. High-resolution radar images of the down range and cross range response of an object are required in order to perform diagnostic measurements. In this mode, the target is rotated as in evaluation measurement with the addition of being illuminated with a wideband signal at each aspect angle.