Study on Spin-based Imaging of High-speed Warhead

Currently, high-resolution imaging of a high-speed warhead is a popular topic in the field of radar technology. In contrast with regular targets, a high-speed warhead often moves along its trajectory and simultaneously exhibits a special spinning movement. The echoes from a radar sensor can contain complex Doppler information presenting a severe challenge to the high-resolution imaging procedure. This paper investigates imaging methods for a high-speed warhead considering the spinning movement. First, the radar echo characteristics of the spinning warhead are studied and the echo phase characteristics are revealed. Next, the chirp-rate estimation method using the WignerHough Transform (WHT) for the trajectory movement compensation and the imaging method based on spinning are proposed. Finally, the validity and the advantage of the spin-based imaging method are tested with simulation data. Test results indicate that the imaging algorithm is robust when the data reaches a certain SNR, and this paper provides a better solution to the issue of speed estimation and the complexity of imaging algorithm of a high-speed warhead.