The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), under contract to the U.S. Air Force 46 Test Group, Radar Target Scattering Division (RATSCAT), at Holloman AFB, NM, has designed and developed a fttlly polarimetric, bistatic coherent radar measurement system (BICOMS). It will be used to measure both the monostatic and bistatic radar cross section (RCS) cf targets, as well as create two-dimensional, extremely high-resolution images of monostatic and bistatic signature data. BICOMS consists of a fixed radar unit (FRU) and a mobile radar unit (MRU), each of which is capable of independent monostatic operation as well as simultaneous coherent monostatic and bistatic operation. The two radar systems are coherently locked via a microwave fiber optic link (FOL). This paper discusses the system design requirements and key system features ofthe BICOMS and its major radio frequency (RF) subsystems.The BICOMS system specifications reflect the requirement for a flexible, robust, highly accurate, and efficient RCS monostatic and bistatic measurement system. BICOMS is designed to operate in the gypsum flats of the outdoor RATSCAT Mainsite RCS ground-plane range, thereby requiring the BICOMS MRU to be mobile in a loose, sandy gypsum surface over a very hard and dense sub-soil. BICOMS is designed to operate over the frequency spectrum from 1-18 GHz and 34-36 GHz. At Mainsite, it will operate at ranges from 300 ft to 8,000 ft in either a monostatic, a bistatic, or a simultaneous monostatic-bistatic mode. In the latter mode, the system is capable of collecting four independent sets of data, two monostatic and two bistatic, for both co-polarized and cross-polarized (complex) data during each target rotation. In the design and development of the BICOMS, emphasis has been placed on RCS accuracy, resolution, sensitivity, dynamic range, and stability, as well as operability, maintainability, and reliability. All of these elements are required to provide the
