Message posted by Magoo on September 03, 2000 at 19:35:21 EST:
Gary Unless the missile was 'squawking', i.e. transmitting an IFF (which it wouldn't be) then it is unlikely ATC would see it, especially if it were the size of an AAM or small SAM. ATC radars are configured for long range but low sensitivity, so as to not be confused by flocks of birds or weather etc. Military search and track radars, on the other hand, are configured for high sensitvity, and often come with sophisticated software which can quickly tell the difference between a flock of birds and an aircraft. For example, with a modern doppler radar, it measures a possible targets' speed relative to itself and the surrounding terrain, hence the name 'doppler'. Doppler was the guy who discovered the 'doppler shift' in order to measure whether stars in the unniverse are moving away from or coming towards us. If they had a blue tinge in the UV spectrum, then they are moving away. Red, and they are coming towards us. Needless to say, most stars, galaxies etc have a blue tinge. A basic but effective example of this can also be found using sound waves - stand next to a car race track when a race car is coming towards you, and the sound is a higher pitch, but as it goes past you, the sound deepens as it goes away. e.g. 'NNEEEEEEEEEOOWWWWWWWWWW' This is a sound doppler effect. But, I digress... A way used to defeat a doppler radar in a tail chase in air-to-air combat, is to reverse into ht pusuing aicraft or missile or turn away at an angle that is perpendicular to the beam. This can cause the radar to momentarily break lock, because it thinks you are too slow relative to it to be an aircraft, so it might think you are a bird or something and discount you as a threat. It may only be for a few seconds, but often that's all you need to be able to 'bug out' in air-to-air combat, especially if you're on the deck and have some energy up. Our F-111 guys use this technique alot on the deck, and it works! Magoo
In Reply to: Re: Were UFOs Pakastani Ghauri - III Missile? (update) posted by Gary Sellani on September 02, 2000 at 04:37:12 EST:
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