Monopulse radar is less prone to signal strength changes and jamming than cone scan radar. It splits its beam into two signals and compares them to determine direction accurately. The display consists of two overlapping lobes, providing high pointing accuracy. Monopulse radar produces signals with different polarities, making jamming difficult.
A monopulse radar is a type of radar that includes additional information in the signal. This allows the radar to be less prone to difficulties caused by sudden changes in signal strength. Monopulse radar is also more difficult to jam than cone scan radar, which was in use until the 1960s.
The cone scan radar transmits a single signal through a slightly off-center power siren. The radar lobe always illuminates the target when the radar is centered on it. The signal will be strongest when the radar is pointed directly at the target, allowing the cone scan radar to determine the target’s direction. The main difficulty with cone scan radar is that other factors, such as the weather, can affect signal strength.
The main difference between single pulse radar and cone scan radar is that single pulse radar splits its beam into two signals and transmits each signal in a different direction. The signals reflect off the target and are received by the radar, which then compares the two signals to determine which is stronger. This allows radar to determine the direction of the target more accurately than cone scan radar. The radar performs this comparison during each pulse, hence the radar term “monopulse”.
A monopulse radar must be able to identify different parts of the beam to compare the two signals. Radar typically polarizes each signal separately and transmits each signal through slightly off-center feed horns. The signals are then received back from the target and separated again, using the polarity difference to differentiate the signals.
The monopulse radar display typically consists of two overlapping lobes. This provides a high degree of pointing accuracy when the lobes are close together. Cone scan radar generally has a pointing error of 0.1 degrees and monopulse radar generally has an error of no more than 0.01 degrees. Advanced systems are typically accurate to within 0.006 degrees.
The fact that monopulse radar produces signals with different polarities makes jamming much more difficult than cone scan radar. The jamming radar must duplicate the polarization and timing of the signal. This is generally impractical, so electronic countermeasures for this type of radar typically consist of transmitting white noise rather than generating a false signal.
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