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During the fifty years since its initial development as a means of providing early warning of airborne attacks against allied countries during World War II, radar systems have developed to the point of being highly mobile and versatile systems capable of supporting a wide variety of remote sensing applications. Instead of being tied to stationary land-based sites, radar systems have found their way into highly mobile land vehicles as well as into aircraft, missiles, and ships of all sizes. Of all these applications, however, the most exciting revolution has occurred in the airborne platform arena where advanced technology radars can be found in all shapes and sizes...ranging from the large AWACS and Joint STARS long range surveillance and targeting systems to small millimeter wave multi-spectral sensors on smart weapons that can detect and identify their targets through the use of highly sophisticated digital signal processing hardware and software. This paper presents an overview of these radar applications with the emphasis on modern airborne sensors that span the RF spectrum. It will identify and describe the factors that influence the parameters of low frequency and ultra wide band radars designed to penetrate ground and dense foliage environments and locate within them buried mines, enemy armor, and other concealed or camouflaged weapons of war. It will similarly examine the factors that lead to the development of airborne radar systems that support long range extended endurance airborne surveillance platforms designed to detect and precision-located both small high speed airborne threats as well as highly mobile time critical moving and stationary surface vehicles. The mission needs and associated radar design impacts will be contrasted with those of radar systems designed for high maneuverability rapid acquisition tactical strike warfare platforms, and shorter range cued air-to-surface weapons with integral smart radar sensors.
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