Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!dino!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!iuvax!att!cbnews!military
From: bxr307@csc.anu.oz.au
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Tanks and radar
Message-ID: <1990Oct24.150938.15732@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 24 Oct 90 15:09:38 GMT
References: <1990Oct19.181644.17328@cbnews.att.com>
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From: bxr307@csc.anu.oz.au
In article <1990Oct19.181644.17328@cbnews.att.com>, spiff@ucscb.ucsc.edu (Tasmanian Devil School of Speech Therapy) writes:
> 
> 
> From: spiff@ucscb.ucsc.edu (Tasmanian Devil School of Speech Therapy)
> 
> 
> 
> This may seem like a silly question, but why dontt tanks have radar
> (for the purpose of firing radar-guided missles)?  Is it because there
> is so much ground clutter that radar would be worthless, or is it
> because you cant put armor in front of a radar emitter, or what?

	The US Army has experimented with the us of millimetre (mm) wave radar
 units on armoured vehicles (in particular tanks) as an added sensor.  I read 
about the tests about 1-2 years ago.  I believe they were successful and while
 the US Army might want to put them on their tanks the expense is a little too
 much at the moment.  The sensor however was not intended to guide missiles, 
rather it was intended to act as a further means by which to sense targets 
through smoke and at night.  It was also, when coupled with a engagement
management computer system to be able to take control of the gun and turret and
point the gun at the nearest target if the commander allowed it.  The gunner
was to then fine aim and fire the gun.
	One outgrowth from the system I think is the "Longbow" mm radar system
which is going to retrofitted to AH64 Apache helicopters.

Brian Ross