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> If 16cm through clouds and rain has been publicly available for three years, what does military have and for how long? It is my understanding that phased-arr
by TMWNN 2y ago
> If 16cm through clouds and rain has been publicly available for three years, what does military have and for how long?
It is my understanding that phased-array antennas, of the type Starlink satellites carry, are also excellent for phased-array radar.
It's known that Starshield covers both military use of the civilian Starlink network, as well as military-dedicated satellites for communications and other functions. I suspect that during wartime Starlink will be the world's most comprehensive (and, thanks to its scale, most survivable) space-based radar system.
- RF_Savage 2y agoAt least the civilian Starlink sats will not be able to do that. The transmit and receive frequencies are different and limited by hardware filters. They would be most useful for communications and possibly enable interference mapping. Or finding Ku-band VSAT terminals of other users.
- WJW 2y agoPhased array antennas are indeed usable antennas for radar purposes and many modern radars use them. That said just having a suitable antenna is not enough for having a radar system, you also need sophisticated equipment for both transmitting powerful enough pulses and receiving the (extremely weak) reflections. The power of the reflections drops with the fourth power of the distance to the target. From a quick look at the starlink satellites I very much doubt they could effectively function as a radar system. There's just not enough solar panels to power a big radar on there. Background: I used to be an weapons engineering officer working on future radar systems back in my Navy days.