Performance of bearing-only ESM-radar track association

The bearing-only association of tracks from dissimilar sensors is considered, in particular the association of radar and electronic support measures (ESM) tracks. An approach to characterising performance is suggested, namely the curve representing the relationship between the median time to reach a correct association decision and the mean number of incorrect associations, as the association threshold is varied. Results are presented for artificially generated tracks, showing the variation of performance with track density and accuracy. Results are also given for the association of real radar tracks of ships with simulated ESM tracks. In particular, it is concluded that the ability to attach identity information from ESM to long-range radar tracks will be significantly improved if the ESM bearing errors are reduced, for example from a magnitude of order 50° to 10°.