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Michael Lanier
Co-Operative Education Student
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
Greensboro, North Carolina
Tactical Radar Branch
Microwave Technology Division
Sensors and Avionics Technology Directorate
Naval Air Development Center
Warminster, Pennsylvania
November 16, 1981
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Strategy of our air tactical forces is to “kill ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out”. Ground forces, armed
with advanced anti-aircraft systems capable of matching the mach speeds of attack aircraft, philosophize “shoot ‘em down sort ‘em on the ground”. Puns are humorous, but the reality of fratricide is tragic. With an
increase in speed, range, accuracy, and kill capacity of weapon systems and a stagnation of total target identification technology, the passive Retrodirective Array (RDA) beacon system is desperately needed in the
inventory of the Department of Defense.
The RDA operates essentially as a Van Atta array. Unlike the Van Atta array, there are no interconnections
between array elements in the RDA. A symmetric, dialectric, microwave lens is employed to serve the purpose of faulty connections. Upon reflection of an incident wave front the dialectric dish modulates an
identification code that only friendly interrogators can detect and decode.
Computer generated antenna patterns can be synthesized via the side-band radar cross section. this aids in
performance ratings of new design configurations, outlines limitations of the system, and gives project engineers fast reliable information on theoretical mensurations versus field testing results.
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