4 ms·
The article doesn't mention anything about the physical dimensions or the power requirements, but I wonder if putting this on a mobile platform would be at all
by yock 14y ago
The article doesn't mention anything about the physical dimensions or the power requirements, but I wonder if putting this on a mobile platform would be at all practical. It's one thing to put them on common storm paths, but imagine aiming a few of these at different axis at a tornado. Being able to analyze the motion of individual bits of debris in a tornado would teach us a lot, I think.
- forgotusername 14y ago> 3MW power So "not small" at a guess.
- shabble 14y agoThat figure is almost certainly the peak pulse power, not the actual supply requirements. Modern radar almost all operate by firing very very short pulses at relatively low repetition rates[1] I don't know about the system in question (and if it's still a prototype, it's going to be bigger than it could be), but I think I've heard of systems with similar pulse power being installed in (fighter) aircraft. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse_repetition_frequency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse_repetition_frequency
- vonmoltke 14y agoFighter nose radars are still in the kilowatt range. Those systems are also rather light (~700lbs all totaled, not counting coolant). There may be pylon-mounted systems that get to the upper end of that (>100kW). High power airborne radars are typically carried by larger, purpose-built platforms such as the E-2C, E-3, and E-8.
- icegreentea 14y agoThe radar they are using is a component of the ballistic defense network. Unfortunately, there are a lot of 'mid-course radars' in those schemes. On a hunch, I think they're referring to this one http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/systems/sbx.htm http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/systems/sbx.htm. It is mounted on a semi-submersible platform.