Radar warning systems and ESM systems from a network centric defence perspective

Since the beginning of 2003 a significant part of ESM research at the Swedish Defence Research Agency has been conducted within a research project called "VMS i NBF. The focus has been on acquiring knowledge about the implementation of ESM in a network environment. One research area is to analyse ESM- and radar warning systems from cooperation aspects. The main tasks of these systems are - from a user´s point-of-view - to detect, geolocate and identify or classify signals originating from different types of radar systems. This report shows that cooperation improves performance in all of these areas. Larger geographical areas are covered with separated units and the ability to detect low power signals is improved. Emitter locations are estimated faster and more accurately since separated sensors allow the use of methods not available to single systems. Cooperation also offers improved ability to identify emitters but also makes it important to secure that the same emitter is measured from all system positions. Demands on support systems are emphasised in the report since cooperation requires common references for time and frequency as well as for own position. In addition the features of a communication link, e.g. data rate, which are crucial for the performance achieved are presented.