Professional Guide to Radar Selection in Anti-drone

Within an integrated Anti-Drone system, radar serves as the crucial long-range detection and early warning sensor, responsible for discovering, identifying, and continuously tracking drone targets at a distance. Selecting the appropriate radar is the first step in building an effective defense architecture.

Radar Cross-Section (RCS): Typical consumer drone RCS ranges from 0.001 m² to 0.01 m². Radar must possess excellent weak signal detection capabilities.

Flight Modalities: Must effectively capture complex flight states such as hovering, very low-speed flight, high-speed maneuvers, and swarm tactics.

Detection Airspace: Define the required coverage in terms of operational range, azimuth angle (omnidirectional/sector), and elevation angle range.

Resolution Capability: Encompasses range resolution and angular resolution, directly impacting multi-target discrimination and identification accuracy.

Identification Features: Whether it possesses micro-Doppler analysis capability is key to distinguishing drones from birds and identifying drone types.

Deployment Mode: Differentiate between fixed, mobile/vehicle-mounted, and portable/man-portable types, which dictate radar size, weight, and power constraints.

Operational Environment: Different environments (urban, suburban, coastal, plains) have distinct clutter interference characteristics (buildings, vehicles, birds, weather). The radar must possess corresponding clutter suppression and anti-jamming capabilities.

System Integration: Radar must provide standardized data interfaces (e.g., ASTERIX, NMEA) to ensure seamless synergy with the Command and Control (C2) system, electro-optical units, and radio frequency countermeasure units.

Spectrum Compliance: The operating frequency band must comply with local radio management regulations to avoid causing electromagnetic interference.

• Define the Mission: What is being protected? (e.g., government building, airport, stadium, border).
• Delineate the Area: What is the protection range? (e.g., radius 500m, 2km, 10km?).
• Identify the Threat: What types of drones are the primary concern? (consumer quadcopters, fixed-wing, homemade, swarms?).
• Analyze the Environment: Where will it be deployed? (city center, suburbs, coastline, mountainous area?).

Determine Core Metrics:

• Minimum Detectable RCS: Must at least be able to reliably detect targets of 0.01 m².
• Maximum Operational Range: Based on the area defined in Step 1, allowing sufficient warning and reaction time.
• False Alarm Rate: Requires a very low false alarm rate to avoid frequent system triggering by birds, vehicles, etc.
• Key Functions: Is micro-Doppler recognition and hover detection mandatory?

• Mobility Requirements: Fixed, vehicle-mounted, or portable?
• Power Consumption & Supply: Mains power, vehicle power, or batteries?
• Integration Interface: Confirm the radar's output protocol is compatible with existing or planned C2 systems.

• Total Cost of Ownership: Consider acquisition, installation, maintenance, and upgrade costs.
• Supplier Reputation: Choose suppliers with proven track records and good technical support.
• Testing & Validation: Strongly recommend conducting field tests to verify radar performance in real-world environments, especially its performance in complex clutter conditions.

Radar is the information cornerstone of a C-UAS system, but it does not operate in isolation. The optimal solution stems from precise analysis of one's own mission requirements and careful matching of technological options. Ultimately, a successful C-UAS system relies on the deep integration and synergy of radar, electro-optical, radio frequency detection, and soft/hard kill measures under unified command.