Minimum power requirements of tracking

A methodology for relating the resources consumed by tracking a maneuvering target to the track accuracy achieved is described. This methodology accounts for beam shape loss, missed detections, and, in the case of a fire-control radar, reacquisition of the target when it has moved outside the beam. Normalized computational results for the minimum radar power required as a function of the track accuracy are presented, along with the optimal revisit frequencies and the signal-to-noise ratios