Page 30 - Australian Defence Mag Jul-Aug 2020

30 SURVEILLANCE IN LAND DOMAIN PASSIVE RADAR
JULY/AUGUST 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
PASSIVE RADAR –
FROM CONCEPT TO REALITY
WITH LOCAL SMES
The concepts of passive radar have been known since the 1930s, however the realisation of practical systems has only recently become viable as technology has matured, allowing real time processing of the received data.
KATHERINE ZIESING | CANBERRA
REAL time processing and widespread digital broadcast cov- erage are enabling a coming of age for passive radar surveil- lance capabilities. Today, passive radar systems can provide real-time situational awareness of the air, land, maritime and space domains.
Unlike well understood active radar systems, passive ra- dar does not emit radio frequency (RF) signals or require spectrum allocation to operate which makes it very much simpler and safer to deploy in a world where spectrum is in- creasingly expensive and elusive to secure. The operational benefits of a zero transmission surveillance system will be obvious to ADM readers.
Whilst DST Group has been actively researching and demonstrating this technology for over 15 years, two Aus- tralian companies are now commercialising the technology
for a range of Defence and civil applications. Both based in Adelaide, Daronmont Technologies and Silentium Defence have received Defence grants to take their passive radar technologies to the next level.
Unlike conventional radar systems that incorporate a transmission system to illuminate targets in the environ- ment, passive radar systems take advantage of a variety of ever-present radio frequency transmissions (for example, digital TV and radio) as the illumination source for target detection. Signals from these transmitters are reflected by objects in the air and on the ground and received by a pas- sive radar incorporating sophisticated signal processing to detect and track targets of interest.
In nutshell, passive radars enable you to see the world whilst remaining hidden from the world.