System and method to provide a dynamic situational awareness of attack radar threats

A method of reducing a threat from an attacking radar, comprising the steps of:

• receiving attack radar transmission signals over time at one or more antennas on each of multiple aircraft;
• identifying attack radar signals in the received attack radar transmission signals of each aircraft;
• measuring the received power at one or more antennas on each aircraft from the received attack radar transmission signals for each identified attack radar signal;
• calculating incident power values at one or more antennas on each aircraft from the received power measures of the received attack radar transmission signals for each identified attack radar signal;
• saving each aircraft's position data and the calculated incident power values as they change with time;
• calculating changes in each aircraft's position and incident power values for the identified attack radar signals over time using the saved aircraft positions and incident power values;
• determining whether each aircraft is moving closer to or farther away from a center of the attack radar transmission signal beamwidth using the calculated changes in their respective incident powers and aircraft positions;
• comparing where each aircraft is located within the attack radar transmission signal beamwidth using the respective calculated incident power values and positions;
• and
• communicating a result of the comparing step among the multiple aircraft to enable a pilot to maneuver the aircraft and/or instigate electronic countermeasures to reduce the threat from the identified attacking radar.

A system for reducing a threat from an attacking radar, comprising:

• circuitry adapted for receiving attack radar transmission signals over time at one or more antennas on an aircraft;
• circuitry adapted for determining a position and attitude of the aircraft;
• a processor coupled to the position and attitude determining circuitry and to the attack radar transmission signals receiving circuitry;
• a memory, coupled to the processor, for storing data and including code representing instructions that when executed cause the processor to:
• identify attack radar signals in the received attack radar transmission signals;
• measure received power at one or more antennas on the aircraft from the received attack radar transmission signals for each identified attack radar signal;
• calculate incident power values at one or more antennas on the aircraft from the received power measures of the received attack radar transmission signals for each identified attack radar signal, save in the memory the aircraft position data and the calculated incident power values as they change over time, calculate changes in the aircraft position and incident power for the identified attack radar signals over time using the saved aircraft position data and the saved incident power values;
• and
• determine whether the aircraft is moving closer to, or away from, a center of the attack radar transmission signal beamwidth using the calculated changes in the incident power and the aircraft position;
• and
• means for providing an indicator for controlling aircraft functions in response to a result of the determination whether the aircraft is moving closer to, or away from, the center of the attack radar transmission signal beamwidth, coupled to the processor, to enable a pilot to maneuver the aircraft and/or instigate electronic countermeasures to reduce the threat from the identified attacking radar.

A system for reducing a threat from an attacking radar, comprising:

• circuitry adapted for receiving attack radar transmission signals over time at one or more antennas on each aircraft of multiple aircraft;
• circuitry adapted for determining a position and attitude of each aircraft;
• a processor on each aircraft, coupled to the position and attitude determining circuitry and to the attack radar transmission signals receiving circuitry;
• memory, coupled to the processor, on each aircraft for storing data and including code representing instructions that when executed cause the processor to:
• identify attack radar signals in the received attack radar transmission signals;
• measure received power at one or more antennas on each aircraft from the received attack radar transmission signals for each identified attack radar signal;
• calculate incident power values at one or more antennas on each aircraft from the received power measures of the received attack radar transmission signals for each identified attack radar signal, save in the memory the aircraft position data and the calculated incident power values on each aircraft as they change with time, calculate changes in each aircraft's position and incident power for the identified attack radar signals over time using the saved aircraft position data and incident power values;
• determine whether each aircraft is moving closer to or farther away from a center of the attack radar transmission signal beamwidth using the saved calculated changes in the incident power values and the saved aircraft position data;
• compare the incident powers values between aircraft;
• compare where each aircraft is located within the attack radar transmission signal beamwidth using the respective calculated incident power values and aircraft positions;
• and
• means for providing an indicator on each aircraft for controlling aircraft functions in response to a result of the comparison of where each aircraft is located within the attack radar transmission signal beamwidth, coupled to the processor, to enable each pilot to maneuver an aircraft and/or instigate electronic countermeasures to minimize an identified radar threat.