Adaptive collision threat assessor

Abstract

In a monopulse radar, a system is included to adaptively assess a detected threat in accordance with the relative bearing representative measurements thereof to determine the collision potential of the threat with the radar. The monopulse radar is operative to detect at least one potential threat and to track the threat through a sequence of time increments beginning with the detection thereof. For each time increment, a signal representative of the relative bearing of the detected threat is derived, forming a sequence of relative bearing representative signals respectively corresponding to the sequence of time increments. From the derived relative bearing signals, the assessor system forms, at each of a selected number of increments, a signal representative of an adaptively updated initial approach bearing measurement of the detected threat with respect to the radar, a signal representative of an adaptively filtered estimate of an instantaneous relative bearing measurement of the detected threat with respect to the radar, and a signal representative of the level of confidence of the generated instantaneous relative bearing measurement signals. A comparison test is conducted at each of the selected number of time increments for detecting a deviation between correspondingly generated initial approach and instantaneous relative bearing measurement signals which is greater than the corresponding level of confidence signal, the event being indicative of a non-collision bearing behavior of the detected threat.