A fire-control radar (FCR) is a radar which is designed specifically to provide information (mainly target azimuth, elevation, range and velocity) to a fire-control system in order to calculate a firing solution (i.e. information on how to direct weapons such that they hit the target(s)). Such radars typically emit a narrow, intense beam of radio waves to ensure accurate tracking information and to minimise the chance of losing track of the target. Some modern radars have a track-while-scan capability enabling it to function simultaneously as a fire-control radar and a search radar. This works either by having the radar switch between sweeping the search sector and sending directed pulses at the target to be tracked, or by using a phased-array antenna to generate two (or more) discrete radar beams and dividing them between both tasks.
Read more about Fire-control Radar: Operational Phases, Performance, Countermeasures, Surface Based, Ship Based, Aircraft Based
Famous quotes containing the word radar:
“So I begin to understand why my mother’s radar is so sensitive to criticism. She still treads the well-worn ruts of her youth, when her impression of mother was of a woman hard to please, frequently negative, and rarely satisfied with anyone—least of all herself.”
—Melinda M. Marshall (20th century)