1-8] THE SYSTEMS APPROACH TO AIRBORNE RADAR DESIGN 33 



titative interrelationships of the radar and other system elements. From 

 manipulation of these interrelationships the designer must obtain the true 

 technical requirements of the radar necessary to attain a proper balance 

 between mission accomplishment and the operational requirement (see 

 Fig. 1-24). 



The detailed technical requirements include specification of 



1. Functional capabilities 



2. Radar range and angle coverage requirements 



3. Information handling, transfer, and display requirements 



4. Radar information accuracy requirements 



5. Radar environmental requirements 



6. Radar system reliability requirements 



7. Radar maintenance, stowage, and handling requirements 



In this stage of the design, the emphasis is placed on the job the radar 

 must do and the environment in which it must operate. As previously 

 mentioned, this analysis should not be inhibited by the introduction of 

 state-of-the-art radar limitations. The problem in this phase is to ascertain 

 what requirements the radar must satisfy to allow the defined system con- 

 cept to demonstrate an adequate system capability. 



This type of analysis is not popular with radar designers. Often it 

 results in establishing technical requirements beyond the scope of known 

 radar technology. The radar designer is forced to admit a set of require- 

 ments he does not believe he can meet. 



However, the wise weapons systems contractor will demand that such an 

 analysis be performed and demonstrated by the radar designer for two 

 reasons: 



1. It will ensure that the radar designer really understands the 

 problem before he tries to solve it. 



2. The earlier a potential source of system degradation is known, 

 the easier it is to correct by invention or by modification of the 

 development program. 



Because this step is so important to the radar designer, Chapter 2 is 

 devoted to a detailed discussion and example of the processes involved in 

 the derivation of technical requirements for a radar system. 



Mechanization Requirements. The next step in the design process 

 is to synthesize a realizable radar system to meet the derived technical 

 requirements within the limitations imposed by development time, state 

 of the art, and delivery considerations. Various radar systems are designed 

 on paper and analyzed in detail to demonstrate their performance relative 



