10log J/S = 10log Pj+ 10log Gja - 10log Pt - 10log Gt - 10log Note (1): Neither f nor |
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10log (J/S) = 10log Pj + 10log Gja - 10log Pt - 10log Gt - G Note (2): The 20log f 1 term in -G |
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RTx is the range from the radar transmitter to the target. See note (1) above. 10log J/S = 10log Pj + 10log Gja - 10log Pt - 10log Gt - 10log |
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10log (J/S) = 10log Pj + 10log Gja - 10log Pt - 10log Gt - G |
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G |
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This section derives the J/S ratio from the one-way range equation for J and the two-way range equation for S, and deals exclusively with active (transmitting) ECM devices or systems. Furthermore, the only purpose of the ECM considered is to prevent, delay, or confuse the radar processing of target information.
By official definition, ECM can be either Jamming or Deception. This may be somewhat confusing because almost any type of active ECM is commonly called "jamming", and the calculations of ECM signal in the radar compared to the target signal in the radar commonly refer to the "jamming-to-signal" ratio ("J-to-S" ratio). Therefore this section uses the common jargon and the term "jammer" refers to any ECM transmitter, and the term "jamming" refers to any ECM transmission, whether Deception or Concealment.
Jamming: "Official" jamming should more aptly be called Concealment or Masking. Essentially, Concealment uses ECM to swamp the radar receiver and hide the targets. Concealment (Jamming) usually uses some form of noise as the transmitted ECM signal. In this section, Concealment will be called "noise" or "noise jamming".
Deception: Deception might be better called Forgery. Deception uses ECM to forge false target signals that the radar receiver accepts and processes as real targets.
"J" designates the ECM signal strength whether it originates from a noise jammer or from a deception ECM system.
Basically, there are two different methods of employing active ECM against hostile radars:
For most practical purposes, Self Protection
ECM is usually Deception and Support ECM is usually noise jamming.
As the name implies, Self Protection ECM is ECM that is used to
protect the platform that it is on. Self Protection ECM is often
called "self screening jamming", and also "DECM",
which is an acronym for either "Defensive ECM" or "Deception
ECM".
The top half of Figure 1 shows self screening jamming (DECM).
The bottom half of Figure 1 illustrates escort jamming which is
a special case of support jamming. If the escort platform is sufficiently
close to the target, the J-to-S calculations are the same as for
DECM.
Support ECM is ECM radiated from one platform
and is used to protect other platforms. Figure 2 illustrates two
cases of support jamming - stand-off jamming (SOJ) and stand-in
jamming (SIJ). For SOJ the support jamming platform is maintaining
an orbit at a long range from the radar - usually beyond weapons
range. For SIJ, a remotely piloted vehicle is orbiting very close
to the victim radar. Obviously, the jamming power required for
the SOJ to screen a target is much greater than the jamming power
required for the SIJ to screen the same target.
When factoring ECM into the radar equation, the quantities of greatest interest are "J-to-S" and Burn- Through Range.
"J-to-S" is the ratio of the signal strength of the ECM signal (J) to the signal strength of the target return signal (S). It is expressed as "J/S" and, in this section, is always in dB. J usually (but not always) must exceed S by some amount to be effective, therefore the desired result of a J/S calculation in dB is a positive number. Burn-through Range is the radar to target range where the target return signal can first be detected through the ECM and is usually slightly farther than crossover range where J=S. It is usually the range where the J/S just equals the minimum effective J/S (See Burn-Through / Crossover Range Section).
The significance of "J-to-S" is sometimes misunderstood. The effectiveness of ECM is not a direct mathematical function of "J-to-S". The magnitude of the "J-to-S" required for effectiveness is a function of the particular ECM technique and of the radar it is being used against. Different ECM techniques may very well require different "J-to-S" ratios against the same radar. When there is sufficient "J-to-S" for effectiveness, increasing it will rarely increase the effectiveness at a given range. Because modern radars can have sophisticated signal processing and/or ECCM capabilities, in certain radars too much "J-to-S" could cause the signal processor to ignore the jamming, or activate special anti-jamming modes. Increasing "J-to-S" (or the jammer power) does, however, allow the target aircraft to get much closer to the threat radar before burn-through occurs, which essentially means more power is better if it can be controlled when desired.
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IMPORTANT NOTE: If the signal S is CW or PD and the Jamming J is amplitude modulated, then the J used in the formula has to be reduced from the peak value (due to sin x/x frequency distribution). The amount of reduction is dependent upon how much of the bandwidth is covered by the jamming signal. To get an exact value, integrals would have to be taken over the bandwidth. As a rule of thumb however:
For example; if your jamming signal is square wave chopped (50% duty cycle) at a 100 Hz rate while jamming a 1 kHz bandwidth receiver, then the J/S is reduced by 3 dB from the maximum. If the duty cycle was 33%, then the reduction would be 4.8 dB. If the 50% and 33% duty cycle jamming signals were chopped at a 10 kHz (vice the 100 Hz) rate, the rule of thumb for jamming seen by the receiver would be down 6 dB and 9.6 dB, respectively, from the maximum since the 10 kHz chopping rate is greater than the 1 kHz receiver BW. |
J/S for DECM vs. MONOSTATIC RADAR
Figure 3 is radar jamming visualized. The Physical concept of Figure 3 shows a monostatic radar that is the same as Figure 1, in the Two-Way Monostatic Radar Equation Section, and a jammer (transmitter) to radar (receiver) that is the same as Figure 3, in the One-Way Radar Equation Section. In other words, Figure 3 is simply the combination of the previous two visual concepts where there is only one receiver (the radar's).

The equivalent circuit shown in Figure 4 applies to jamming
monostatic radars with either DECM or support ECM. For DECM (or
escort) v.s. a monostatic radar, the jammer is on the target and
the radar receive and transmit antennas are collocated so the
three ranges and three space loss factors (
's)
are the same.

J-S Ratio (Monostatic) The ratio of the power received (Pr1 or J) from the jamming signal transmitted from the target to the power received (Pr2 or S) from the radar skin return from the target equals J/S.
From the one-way range equation section:

Note: To avoid having to include additional terms for these calculations, always combine any transmission line loss with antenna gain.
From the two-way range equation:


On reducing the above equation to log form we have:
J/S Calculations (Monostatic) Using a One Way Free Space Loss - The simplified radar equations developed in previous sections can be used to express J/S.
From the One-way Range Equation Section:
From the Two-way Range Equation Section:
Note: To avoid having to include additional terms for these
calculations, always combine any transmission line loss with antenna
gain. The 20log f 1 term in -G
cancels the 20log f 1 term in
.
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J/S for DECM vs. BISTATIC RADAR
The semi-active missile illustrated in Figure
5 is the typical bistatic radar which would require the target
to have self protection ECM to survive. In this case, the jammer
is on the target and the target to missile receiver range is the
same as the jammer to receiver range, but the radar to target
range is different. Therefore, only two of the ranges and two
of the
's (Figure 6.) are the same.

In the following equations:
Tx = The one-way space loss from the
radar transmitter to the target for range RTx
Rx = The one-way space loss from the
target to the missile receiver for range RRx
Like the monostatic radar, the bistatic jamming and reflected
target signals travel the same path from the target and enter
the receiver (missile in this case) via the same antenna. In both
monostatic and bistatic J/S equations this common range cancels,
so both J/S equations are left with an RTx2
or 20 log RTx term. Since in the monostatic case RTx
= RRx and
Tx =
Rx
, only R or
is used in the equations. Therefore, the bistatic
J/S equations [11], [13], or [14] will work for monostatic J/S
calculations, but the opposite is only true if bistatic RTx
and
Tx terms are used for R or
terms
in monostatic equations [3], [5], and [8].
The equivalent circuit shown in Figure 6 applies to jamming
bistatic radar. For DECM (or escort) vs. a bistatic radar, the
jammer is on the target and the radar receive and transmit antennas
are at separate locations so only two of the three ranges and
two of the three space loss factors (
's) are the same.
J-to-S Ratio (Bistatic) When the radar's transmit antenna is located remotely from the receiving antenna (Figure 6), the ratio of the power received (Pr1 or J) from the jamming signal transmitted from the target to the power received (Pr2 or S) from the radar skin return from the target equals J/S. For jammer effectiveness J normally has to be greater than S.
From the One-way Range Equation Section:

From the Two-way Range Equation Section:


On reducing the above equation to log form we have:
Note: To avoid having to include additional terms for these
calculations, always combine any transmission line loss with antenna
gain. Neither f nor
terms are part of the final
form of equation [11] and equation [13].
Bistatic J/S Calculations (Bistatic) Using a One Way Free Space Loss - The simplified radar equations developed in previous sections can be used to express J/S.
From the one way range equation:
From the two way range equation:
Note: To avoid having to include additional terms for these
calculations, always combine any transmission line loss with antenna
gain. The 20log f 1 term in -G
cancels the 20log f 1 term in
.
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Saturated J/S (Monostatic) Example (Constant Power Jamming)
Assume that a 5 GHz radar has a 70 dBm signal fed through a 5 dB loss transmission line to an antenna that has 45 dB gain. An aircraft is flying 31 km from the radar. The aft EW antenna has -1 dB gain and a 5 dB line loss to the EW receiver (there is an additional loss due to any antenna polarization mismatch but that loss will not be addressed in this problem). The aircraft has a jammer that provides 30 dBm saturated output if the received signal is above -35 dBm. The jammer feeds a 10 dB loss transmission line which is connected to an antenna with a 5 dB gain. If the RCS of the aircraft is 9 m2 , what is the J/S level received by the tracking radar?
Answer: The received signal at the jammer is the same as the example in the One-way Radar Equation Section, i.e. answer (1) = -32.3 dBm @ 5 GHz. Since the received signal is above -35 dBm, the jammer will operate in the saturated mode, and equation [5] can be used. (See Jamming to Signal Ratio - Constant Gain Jamming Section for an example of a jammer operating in the linear region.)
Note: the respective transmission line losses will be combined with antenna gains, i.e. -5 + 45 = 40 dB & -10 +5 = -5 dB.
* The answer is still 6.25 dB if the tracking radar operates at 7 GHz provided the antenna gains and the aircraft RCS are the same at both frequencies.
In this example, there is inadequate jamming power at each frequency if the J/S needs to be 10 dB or greater to be effective. One solution would be to replace the jammer with one that has a greater power output. If the antenna of the aircraft and the radar are not the proper polarization, additional power will also be required (Polarization Section).