Microwave techniques for radar cross section measurements: a review

During the past several years, the increasing interest taken in radar signature reduction techniques has induced the development of radar cross section (RCS) measurement facilities. Various principles and techniques are used to perform these characterizations. This paper recapitulates the different types of experimental set-up dedicated to this kind of measurements. The illumination arrangements and the instrumentation systems generally adopted are described. RCS measurements also require data processing techniques in order to analyse the interaction of the electromagnetic wave with the target and to identify scattering mechanisms. To this aim, imaging techniques have been developed. The efficiency of these methods is illustrated on measured data