Simultaneous Circular Imaging and Movement Indication of Targets (SCIMITAR)

Technology Service Corporation (TSC) will develop techniques and software to perform persistent surveillance against moving and stationary vehicles, including move-stop-move targets, using the FORESTER radar system when configured to fly a circular flight path around the desired target area. The circular flight path will allow the radar system to continuously illuminate the selected target site. It also maximizes the angular rate about the SAR scene. The high angular rate that is achieved provides the most rapid SAR image formation possible, with almost immediate stationary target detection as vehicles come to a stop. Techniques will also be developed to process the along-track interferometer of FORESTER using SAR imagery. Interferometric operation will enable SAR-GMTI processing to be performed for simultaneous SAR imaging of stationary targets and the detection of moving targets. This combination will enable the FORESTER radar to reliably track vehicles through the problematic move-stop-move scenarios, and will greatly enhance the FORESTER’s operating envelope. No hardware changes will be required to the FORESTER radar to incorporate these capabilities.