Discrimination of target and RGPO echoes using frequency diversity

Range gate pull off (RGPO) is a deceptive electronic counter measure (ECM) that targets perform to cause the radar to break its track on the target. Targets performing RGPO utilize digital radio frequency memory (DRFM) to store the radar pulse and repeat the pulse at the radar with a controlled delay, so that the radar receives signals from the actual target and a false target. The use of frequency diversity in the discrimination of actual target echoes from the RGPO echoes is considered. The amplitudes of the target echoes are considered to be Rayleigh distributed, while the amplitude the RGPO echoes are considered to be fixed across the frequencies. Estimators of the amplitude parameters for Rayleigh and fixed-amplitude targets are presented along with algorithms for discriminating between fixed-amplitude and Rayleigh targets. The performance of the discrimination algorithms are illustrated through the results of Monte Carlo simulations.