В россии создается радиофотонная РЛС, и это революция в технике локации
rg.ru
Radars will gain eyes
A group of specialists on the basis of the Research Institute of Long-Range Radar is developing a fundamentally new X-band radar station operating on the basis of radio-photon technologies.
The work is headed by the head of the working group of the Scientific and Technical Council of the Military-Industrial Commission on Radiophotonics Alexei Nikolaevich Shulunov. The first steps have been taken, which can be considered successful. It looks like a new era is opening in classic radar, which now seems like a fantasy.
Probably everyone who graduated from high school knows what radar is. And what a radio-photon location is, is not known to a very large circle of specialists. To put it simply, the new technology makes it possible to combine the incompatible - radio waves and light. In this case, the flow of electrons must be converted into a flow of photons and vice versa. The problem, which yesterday was beyond the bounds of reality, can be solved in the near future. What will it give?
For example, the basis of radar systems for missile defense and tracking of space objects is made up of huge radar complexes. The rooms in which the equipment is located are multi-storey buildings. The use of photonic technologies will make it possible to fit all control and data processing systems in significantly smaller dimensions - literally in a few rooms. At the same time, the technical capabilities of radars to detect even small objects at a distance of thousands of kilometers will only increase.
Moreover, due to the use of photonic technologies, not a target mark will appear on the radar screen, but its image, which is unattainable with classical radar. That is, instead of the usual luminous point, the operator will see what is actually flying - an airplane, a rocket, a flock of birds or a meteorite, it is worth repeating, even thousands of kilometers from the radar.
Now all radar systems - military and civilian - operate in a strictly defined frequency range, which complicates technical design and leads to a variety of radar nomenclature. Photonic radars will allow for the highest degree of uniformity. They are able to instantly tune in a very wide range of operating frequencies - from meter values to millimeter ones.
It has long been no secret that the so-called stealth planes are clearly visible in the meter range, but most accurately their coordinates are better given by centimeter and millimeter-wave stations. Therefore, in air defense systems, both meter stations with very large antennas and more compact centimeter ones work at the same time.
But a photonic radar, scanning space in a long frequency range, will easily detect the same "invisibility" and, instantly reconfiguring to a broadband signal and a high frequency, will determine its exact coordinates in height and range.
This is only about the location. Revolutionary changes will also take place in electronic warfare, in the transmission of information and its protection, in computing technologies and much more. It is easier to say that it will not affect radio photonics.
In fact, a fundamentally new branch of the high-tech industry will be created. The task is extremely difficult, therefore, many leading research centers of the country, university science, and a number of industrial enterprises are involved in its solution. According to Shulunov, work is going on in close connection with the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Science and Education. The President of Russia recently took control of them.
