Control of false track rate using multiple hypothesis confirmation

A modem surveillance radar system is likely to return several hundred plot detections per radar scan, especially if the system is searching for targets of low radar cross section such as sea skimming missiles against a background of sea clutter. The track extractor must take this plot data and present a track picture that is sufficiently clean of false and clutter tracks that it can be readily understood. Techniques based upon "tentative tracks" are shown to have limitations in their ability to confirm tracks in clutter, and multiple hypothesis techniques are demonstrated that overcome these problems.