Anti-mainlobe Jamming Algorithm for AEW Aircraft via Toeplitz Reconstruction

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1009-086x.2026.04.012

Abstract

Abstract:

This paper studied the anti-active mainlobe jamming technology for airborne early warning aircraft based on a frequency diverse array （FDA）. Airborne early warning aircraft serve as a key airborne command and control platform in modern warfare， and their radar system must possess strong anti-jamming capability in complex electromagnetic environments. As an efficient means of jamming， active mainlobe jamming poses a severe threat to the radar of the airborne early warning aircraft. To address this challenge， this paper proposed a new method combining a cross subarray-based FDA with sinusoidally increasing frequency offset （CSB sin-FDA） and an adaptive beamforming algorithm. First， the FDA model and its three received signal processing mechanisms were analyzed in detail. On this basis， the CSB sin-FDA array was adopted to replace the traditional uniform linear frequency diverse array， which achieved point-like spatial beam pointing and enhanced the accuracy of beam control. To solve the problem of large covariance matrix estimation errors in low snapshot scenarios， a covariance matrix estimation algorithm based on Toeplitz matrix reconstruction was proposed， which effectively reduced the computational complexity and improved the jamming suppression effect. Simulation results indicate that under the conditions of snapshot number K = 100 and signal-to-noise ratio of 20 dB， the output signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio of the proposed algorithm increases by about 40%； the mainlobe jamming suppression depth reaches -35 dB， and the computational complexity is reduced by 30% compared with the traditional algorithm. Moreover， it maintains stable mainlobe pointing characteristics under different signal-to-noise ratios （10~30 dB）.

Key words: frequency diverse array（FDA）, adaptive beamforming algorithm, active mainlobe jamming, Toeplitz matrix reconstruction, airborne early warning （AEW） aircraft, covariance matrix estimation

摘要：

研究了基于频控阵（frequency diverse array, FDA）的预警机抗有源主瓣干扰技术。预警机作为现代战争中的关键空中指挥与控制平台，其雷达系统在复杂电磁环境中必须具备强大的抗干扰能力。有源主瓣干扰作为一种高效的干扰手段，对预警机雷达构成了严重威胁。为应对这一挑战，提出了一种结合交叉子阵正弦频控阵（cross subarray-based FDA with sinusoidally increasing frequency offset, CSB sin-FDA）和自适应波束形成算法的新方法。详细分析了FDA阵列模型及其3种接收信号处理机制。在此基础上，采用CSB sin-FDA阵列替代传统的均匀线性频控阵，实现了点状的空间波束指向，增强了波束控制的精确性。针对低快拍场景下协方差矩阵估计误差大的问题，提出了一种基于Toeplitz矩阵重构的协方差矩阵估计算法，有效降低了计算复杂度并提升了干扰抑制效果。仿真实验结果表明，在快拍数K=100、信噪比20 dB条件下，所提算法输出信干噪比提升约40%，主瓣干扰抑制深度达-35 dB，计算复杂度较传统算法降低30%，且在不同信噪比（10~30 dB）下均保持稳定的主瓣指向特性。

关键词: 频控阵, 自适应波束形成算法, 有源主瓣干扰, Toeplitz矩阵重构, 预警机, 协方差矩阵估计

CLC Number:

TN95

Jing ZHANG, Bo WANG. Anti-mainlobe Jamming Algorithm for AEW Aircraft via Toeplitz Reconstruction[J]. Modern Defense Technology, 2026, 54(4): 112-122.

张晶, 王博. 预警机抗主瓣干扰的Toeplitz重构算法[J]. 现代防御技术, 2026, 54(4): 112-122.

Figures/Tables 10

Fig. 1 Architecture of uniform linear frequency diverse array system

Fig. 2 Architecture design of frequency diverse array based on cross subarrays

Fig. 3 Flowchart of algorithm implementation

Fig. 4 Transmit-receive directional patterns of three

Fig. 5 Transmit directional patterns of FDA

Fig. 6 MVDR array directional pattern based on FDA-BFF

Fig. 7 Array directional pattern of proposed method based on CSB sin-FDA （SNR=10 dB）

Fig. 8 Array directional pattern of proposed method based on CSB sin-FDA （SNR=20 dB）

Fig. 9 Array directional pattern of proposed method based on CSB sin-FDA （SNR=30 dB）

Fig. 10 Comparison of SINR for five mechanisms

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