Toward a combined sensor system for detection and classification of small surface vessels in the maritime domain

The paper describes work done by FOI to develop cost-effective methods for the detection and classification of small surface vessels at sea or in littoral waters. We report on the architecture, current realization, and initial tests of a prototype system consisting of a coherent pulse-Doppler radar operating at S-band and an optical sensor module consisting of a gated active laser imaging sensor for classification of candidate targets. The two sensor modules have complementary capabilities and can be used to realize an integrated system with both good area coverage and high angular resolution. Improved clutter-reduction methods using coherent 2D-filtering are also discussed.