A short range millimeter wave radar for rotorcraft DVE operations

This paper describes progress in the ongoing development of a radar for rotorcraft that utilizes new CMOS ICs that were development for automotive applications. The radar design is discussed, including a lens-based focal plane array that is fed by patch antenna subarray elements. Measured detection pattern data indicates sensitivity sufficient to detect a 1 m2 RCS object at 200 m with a 13dB SNR. Detection pattern data vs. azimuth angle are presented, which indicate a 2.1 deg 3dB beamwidth. Sidelobes are reduced to 30dB below the beam peaks using digital beamforming techniques.