Indoor and outdoor evaluation of missile prototype scattering diagrams

Radar cross section (RCS) measurements allow the equivalent area of a target when illuminated by radar to be determined. In other words, the RCS is the ratio between the energy of an electromagnetic wave emitted by radar that impinges on a target and the energy scattered by it. The scattering measurements can be performed monostatically, whereby the electromagnetic waves reflected by the target are measured in the same direction as the emitting source (radar), or by the bistatic method, when the reflected waves are captured in other directions. This article discusses the preliminary work currently being developed at AMR/IAE/CTA, involving the characterization of RAM (radar absorbing materials) applied on a target with complex geometry. In this particular study a missile prototype was used. The methodologies employed here are based on a closed-field (indoor) RCS range, using an anechoic chamber, and an open-field (outdoor) RCS range, both in the X-band frequency range