Methods and systems for detecting and/or tracking a projectile

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11378676-B2
Application number	US-201716346904-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 14, 2017
Priority date	Nov 14, 2016
Publication date	Jul 5, 2022
Grant date	Jul 5, 2022

Abstract

A device for detecting and/or tracking a projectile has a receiving antenna, for receiving at least an electromagnetic signal emitted by at least one radar, at least one amplifier configured to amplify the electromagnetic signal received by the receiving antenna, and at least one emitting antenna. The emitting antenna is configured to return, at an output of the device, an amplified electromagnetic signal for calculating data indicative of the trajectory of the projectile based at least on the amplified electromagnetic signal. A system for detecting a projectile has a transmitting device mounted on the projectile, a radar configured to sense an electromagnetic signal produced and sent by the transmitting device. The signals emitted from the projectile are limited to the electromagnetic signal sent by the transmitting device, and a processing unit, configured to calculate data indicative of the trajectory of the projectile, based on the sensing of the electromagnetic signal.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A device configured to perform at least one of detecting and tracking a projectile, wherein the device is mounted on the projectile, wherein the device comprises:
at least one receiving antenna mounted on the projectile, configured to receive at least an electromagnetic signal emitted by at least one active radar in the radio-frequency range,
at least one amplifier mounted on the projectile configured to amplify the electromagnetic signal received by the receiving antenna, and
at least one emitting antenna mounted on the projectile,
wherein said emitting antenna is configured to return, at an output of the device, an amplified electromagnetic signal towards a radar or an antenna,
wherein the amplified electromagnetic signal is usable for calculating data indicative of a trajectory of the projectile,
wherein the amplified electromagnetic signal corresponds to the electromagnetic signal received by the receiving antenna mounted on the projectile or a signal informative thereof, after its amplification by said amplifier,
wherein the device mounted on the projectile is configured to process the electromagnetic signal without down-converting a frequency of the electromagnetic signal by a down-converter,
wherein the device is configured to maintain said electromagnetic signal in the radio-frequency range from its reception by the receiving antenna to its return as an amplified electromagnetic signal by said emitting antenna at the output of the device.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein physical attributes of the amplified electromagnetic signal at the output of the device are the same as physical attributes of the electromagnetic signal received by the device, wherein the physical attributes comprise at least one of modulation, phase and frequency.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the receiving antenna is configured to receive an electromagnetic signal with a first polarization, and the emitting antenna is configured to output an electromagnetic signal with a second polarization, wherein the first polarization is different from the second polarization.

4. The device of claim 1 , further configured to modulate the electromagnetic signal before or after its amplification by the amplifier.

5. A projectile comprising a device according to claim 1 , wherein the projectile is an unguided projectile.

6. A system configured to perform at least one of detecting and tracking a projectile, comprising:
at least one active radar configured to send an electromagnetic signal to a device mounted on the projectile, wherein the device is configured to:
sense and amplify said electromagnetic signal in order to return an amplified electromagnetic signal at an output of the device, and
maintain said electromagnetic signal in the radio-frequency range from its sensing by the device to its return as an amplified electromagnetic signal at the output of the device, wherein the device mounted on the projectile is configured to process the electromagnetic signal without down-converting a frequency of the electromagnetic signal by a down-converter, and

at least one processing unit, configured to calculate data indicative of the trajectory of the projectile, based at least on the sensing of said amplified electromagnetic signal.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein a profile of a function representing the amplified electromagnetic signal with respect to time at the output of the device differs from a profile of a function representing the electromagnetic signal sensed by the device with respect to time only by a difference in amplitude.

8. The system of claim 6 , further comprising one or more passive and/or active radars and/or antennas configured to sense the amplified electromagnetic signal.

9. The system of claim 6 , further configured to determine an impact point of the projectile based on the calculated data.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the system is configured to send a command to the projectile based on the determined impact point.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the radar is configured to send the command.

12. The system of claim 6 , wherein the device comprises at least a receiving antenna which receives an electromagnetic signal with a first polarization, and at least an emitting antenna which outputs an electromagnetic signal with a second polarization, wherein the first polarization is different from the second polarization.

13. The system of claim 6 , wherein the system is configured to detect and/or track a plurality of projectiles and to differentiate between the projectiles of the plurality of projectiles.

14. The system of claim 6 , wherein the data indicative of the trajectory of the projectile are calculated based at least on the sensing of the amplified electromagnetic signal, without using information of additional position sensors.

15. The system of claim 6 , wherein:
the radar is configured to send electromagnetic signals which have at least one the following parameters:
a pulse repetition frequency between 0.5 kHz and 100 kHz, and
a duty cycle which is between 1% and 50% of a pulse repetition interval,

wherein the processing unit is configured to perform a differentiation between:
amplified electromagnetic signals returned by the device towards the radar, and
amplified electromagnetic signals returned by the device and sensed by the radar after their reflection on one or more obstacles, for calculating data indicative of the trajectory of the projectile.

16. The device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one receiving antenna ( 53 ), the at least one amplifier ( 52 ) and the at least one emitting antenna ( 51 ) are located on a PCB.

17. The system of claim 10 , configured to send a command to the projectile based on the determined impact point, wherein the command comprises a command for neutralizing an explosive device of the projectile.

18. The system of claim 6 , comprising one or more passive radars.

19. The device of claim 1 , wherein the device is mounted in a fuse of a projectile, or on a fuse of the projectile.

20. The system of claim 6 , comprising at least two radars configured to sense said amplified electromagnetic signal, wherein the at least two radars comprise the active radar.

21. The system of claim 6 , comprising at least two radars configured to sense said amplified electromagnetic signal, wherein the at least two radars do not comprise the active radar.

Assignees

• Elta Systems Ltd

Inventors

• Frenkel Noam
• Steinmetz Josef

Classifications

• F41G7/303

  Sighting or tracking devices especially provided for simultaneous observation of the target and of the missile · CPC title

• F41G7/301

  Details · CPC title

• F41G7/22 Primary

  Homing guidance systems · CPC title

• F41G7/001

  Devices or systems for testing or checking · CPC title

• G01S3/46

  using antennas spaced apart and measuring phase or time difference between signals therefrom, i.e. path-difference systems · CPC title