Research Improving Target Detection for Australian Defence

Greetings from the Australian National University in Canberra, where Professor Brian Anderson is speaking on "Optimal Path Planning and Sensor Placement for Mobile Target Detection". This is a problem from the Australian Defence Science and Technology (DSTO), which is looking to improve the effectiveness of radar for detecting aircraft. The same research methods could be used for airborne sensors looking for ground targets. Australia has purchased new military aircraft with sophisticated sensors which could be networked to improve their performance. As an example, the  RAAF's F/A-18 Hornets could exchange digital data with their datalink transceivers.

These techniques can also be used to plot a path for an aircraft to avoid detection. This is currently done in advance of a mission, but that provides limited ability to react if a new radar is detected in mid-flight.