Every pulse radar consists of the same functional blocks:
- Synchronizer (timer): the conductor. Determines when pulses are transmitted and provides the time reference against which travel times (and therefore ranges) are measured.
- Transmitter: generates the high-power radio-frequency pulses, classically with a magnetron or klystron, nowadays with solid-state amplifiers. Peak powers range from kilowatts to megawatts.
- Duplexer: the ultra-fast switch that alternately connects the single antenna to the transmitter and the receiver — and protects the sensitive receiver from the radar's own transmit pulse (which would otherwise destroy it).
- Antenna: focuses the energy into a narrow beam, directs it into space and collects the echoes again. The antenna determines the gain (Gain) and the angular resolution (Angular resolution).
- Receiver: amplifies the extremely weak echoes (on the order of picowatts) and converts them into a usable form, adding as little noise as possible.
- Signal processor: the brain. Filters clutter (MTI/Doppler), applies pulse compression, integrates pulses, sets the detection threshold (CFAR) and finally forms "plots" and "tracks" of targets.
- Display: presents the picture to the operator, classically as a PPI (Plan Position Indicator) — the familiar rotating radar picture with the radar's own position in the centre.
For the EW specialist
Every block has a counterpart in EW: the transmitter determines what an ESM receiver can pick up (frequency, PRF, pulse shape = the "fingerprint"), the receiver and processor determine how sensitive the radar is to jamming, and the antenna determines through its side lobes (Main lobes, side lobes and back lobes) where the radar is vulnerable.