"phil hunt" wrote in message

On Thu, 16 Oct 2003 13:10:30 -0700, Harry Andreas
wrote:
NCTR - Non Cooperative Target Recognition

Umm, that's sound bizare to me -- isn't it normal for the target
to not co-operate in being recognised?

Depends. Civilian aircraft are supposed to squawk a transponder code, but
sometimes don't. So are friendly aircraft (unless the enemy can spoof your
IFF). An aircraft not squawking could be hostile, or it could be a neutral
airliner or friendly aircraft with a failed or inactive transponder.

NCTR gives you a way to identify an aircraft type by specific
characterisitcs of the radar return. Various different techniques are used;
I won't even try to go into details of how they do it. KNowing the typer of
aircraft, you can then make a more informed decision about the contact's
status.

IN Gulf War 1, two positive forms of ID were required to authorize a shoot.
AWACS track from an Iraqi point of origin was good for one. NCTR or Visual
ID was good for another. Lack of IFF did not count.

--�
Tom Schoene Replace "invalid" with "net" to e-mail
"If brave men and women never died, there would be nothing
special about bravery." -- Andy Rooney (attributed)