Radar surveillance through solid materials

The Department of Defense (DoD) has funded a dazzling array of ''high tech'' solutions for many of the problems facing our military forces. Many of these ''solutions'' have been effective for long range mass destruction but have not been applicable for the close-in hand-to-hand combat that we find in the streets. Our goal has been to convert ''high tech'' DoD capabilities into cost effective tools to help law enforcement agencies do their jobs better. Surveillance systems presently used by law enforcement officers make extensive use of television infrared and other line-of-sight surveillance hardware. However, these systems cannot tell what is happening on the other side of a wall, behind bushes, around the corner, in the dark or through a dense fog. A new sensor has been developed, based upon technology developed by the DoD for missile warhead fusing. This small, light weight, low power ''Radar'' is based upon the phenomena that optimized radio waves can penetrate non-metallic materials. This new surveillance capability can help provide information about what is in a wall, ceiling or floor or on the other side of a door or concrete wall. This paper will discuss some applications to show how this radar works and some of the phenomenology which is unique to material penetrating radar systems.