Airborne early warning (AEW) radars provide long-range surveillance from an airborne platform. Their primary targets of interest are hostile aircraft. Long-range radar surveillance coverage can be limited by the range to the horizon; however, satisfactory range can be re-established by placing the surveillance radars at high altitude. The line of sight horizon is then a respectable distance away, the range to the horizon, Rh in kilometers, from a radar at an altitude of h meters is given approximately. The following sections give some example radar parameters for two hypothetical AEW radar systems: one used for fleet protection and the other for long-range airborne surveillance.

Chapter Contents:

• 17.1 Introduction
• 17.2 AEW Radar for Fleet Protection
• 17.3 AEW Radar for Long-Range Air Surveillance

Inspec keywords: aircraft; airborne radar; alarm systems; search radar

Other keywords: long-range airborne early warning radar surveillance; hostile aircraft; fleet protection; MEMS packaging; line of sight horizon; hypothetical AEW radar system

Subjects: Radar equipment, systems and applications; General aspects of aircraft, space vehicles and satellites; Radar and radiowave systems (military and defence)