Target observability improvement in multi-static maritime forward scatter radar

In recent years, the use of shore or buoy mounted forward scatter radar transceivers for the detection of small, low radar cross section, slow speed (otherwise termed low detectability) maritime targets has been proposed and investigated. Work has focused on the fundamental development of the single baseline link, which would form the basis of any netted system and has mostly been investigated at the lower end of the sea state scale. However as sea state increases, one of the main issues for target detection becomes the visibility time due to line of sight interruption. With a single line chain, this could be a major drawback for the system function as a whole, restricting its use to lower sea states. The formation of multiple baselines using multi-static transceivers could however improve the situation greatly. This paper investigates target observability in both single baseline and multi-baseline systems in an effort to estimate the level of improvement possible.