How do aircraft/fighter jets know that they are being locked on by an anti aircraft system or by another fighter jet?
In: 2036
There are sensors distributed over the surface of the airplane, who react to radars (electromagnetic waves in a certain spectrum). Evil radar wave hits you => the sensor goes haywire.
This of course is different when you are targeted by passive sensor systems like IRST sensors (infrared) or if sensor networks (one aircraft giving targeting information to another aircraft attacking you) are used.
SYL
So there are radio receivers on different parts of the plane. These can detect when radar hits them. Different radar systems do things differently so it can also tell the difference between different radar systems. It can tell when the aircraft has been locked on rather than just pinged by radar because a radar lock on is an intense beam of radar energy that continuously tracks the aircraft. So it’s constant and high powered. A radar lock does this so it can feed very accurate positional data to the weapon system. Normal radar, which will be sending out a wider beam and so less intense for anything it’s hitting on gives more general direction and range.
However, this doesn’t tell you anything if the system locking onto you using infrared (Heat Seeker) because that’s a passive system so nothing from that is hitting the plane. It’s just looking at the plane and detecting the plane’s heat.
A normal search radar is like a lighthouse light. It just sweeps the entire area in a regular fashion, sending out radio waves and listening for the bounce-back to see if there’s anything there. Fighters will have sensors onboard that can detect those waves, so they know they are being scanned.
A lock-on radar will be scanning much more intently and more frequently, since it is trying to provide a lot of data for the weapon system to accurately track the target. So when the fighter’s sensors detect that the radio waves are much stronger and happening much more frequently, it knows that someone isn’t just scanning the area anymore; they’re looking for something specifically, probably the fighter.
With regard to whether it’s a surface-to-air missile or another fighter, the designers of the weapon systems have to make different compromises for each. A fighter’s radar set has to be lightweight and compact so that it doesn’t weigh the jet down too much, while a ground-deployed system can be truck or van sized with no problem. That creates differences in how the radar waves are generated, which are detectable by the sensor. Additionally, electronic warfare involves “eavesdropping” on other countries’ fighters/anti-aircraft radar emissions to see what they look like (it’s not really eavesdropping, since they’re basically broadcasting the radar waves, so listening in is free). That way, they can build up data for future reference; if they see a radar signature that looks like X, they know that it comes from a surface-to-air missile system and not a jet.
Radar warning recievers (RWR). Detected energy and parametrics are compared against onboard databases and classifed.
Imagine radar as visible light. Lighthouse it like a regular radar scanning the area and you’re able to counter it and not give away your position. And a spotlight is more active. Once you have that spotlight on you you know you’re caught and need the get the hell out the way. And for infrared sensors just imagine the predator from aliens. You just don’t know if they found you are not but if you have an idea he’s in the area mask your heat signature or throw off his vision with a bright light like a flare and maybe he’ll chase that.
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Stupid question then. If the defense is based off that radar, what’s to stop taking a Tesla style move to just using cameras? Is the missile too fast/jittery to have reliable video feeds?
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We’re chasing each other in the forest at night. You have eyes, I have a flashlight.
If I leave the flashlight off, we’ll have to spot each other naturally, using motion or sound – visual, motion tracking, thermal, passive sonar, etc.
If I turn the flashlight on, I can use it to pinpoint you easily; however, if Im broadcasting without discipline, youll spot me easily as well. Radar, and radar recievers.
So say you had a super powerful lamp; blinds everyone near it, sure, but there’ll be no doubt that you’re *there*, somewhere. That would be Electronic Counter Measures.
Now, its time for the kill. But guns are passe, we’re using special spears. These spears need to be guided but are able to course correct and hit their target easily.
Maybe the spear has to rely on my flashlight to home in on you, and so after I find you, I have to keep my beam on you until the spear hits; you can dodge the beam, or break line of sight, or even use your lamp to confuse it. All the while, ill be illuminating my position. That would be a semi-active homing missile.
Or, maybe the spear has its own light attached; after I throw it, its light pops on and if I had mine on, i can turn it off. The light from the spear will be harder to dodge since it can turn and track you, and Im invisible again since my light is off. That would be an active homing missile.
Search radar will have a specific frequency range and pulse repetition interval (PRI). A target acquisition radar has different frequency and PRI. Target illumination radar has yet another. The aircraft radar warning receiver (RWR) is programmed with all these and will tell the pilot what’s happening if they’re being targeted.
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