A multistatic 3D passive system based on DVB-T

Without any dedicated radiation, Passive radars are able to detect and localize air targets and especially low altitude targets. The actual passive coverage for these low altitude targets is generally sufficient for gap-fillers applications such as the continuous survey of sensitive areas or huge cities under the following condition: the passive system have to evaluate the target altitude to ensure that the target is a threat or at least an intruder. In order to fulfill the low altitude coverage as well as the required altitude accuracy, the main passive component has to be based on DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcaster-Terrestrial) . After a short comparison of the two main approaches (triangulation versus direct site measurement) for this altitude estimation, an example of a 3D-DVB-T receiving component will be presented. This paper will then focus on the experimental results achieved using such a small 3D-DVB-T component. The potential improvement of a fusion with other sub-systems such as 2DDVBT component and/or FM component will be also illustrated using experimental data. These works and experimentation were funded by the French MoD (DGA) and were conducted in collaboration with THALES.