Adaptive array processing for airborne radar

When limited measurement data is available for estimating second order statistics of the jammer and clutter returns, the conventional data-domain implementation of the joint optimum processor is not feasible. Under these conditions, the adaptive array radar employing the JDL-GLR test outperforms any conventional adaptive array, and is shown in this paper to outperform the DPCA canceler based radar as well. Other advantages of the JDL-GLR processor identified in this paper include efficient use of the receive aperture, and velocity-PRI restriction free operation. In contrast, the low efficiency use of the receive aperture in the DPCA-based system leads to poor performance in the presence of jamming, and violation of the velocity-PRI constraint will result in significantly degraded performance in a clutter limited environment.