Cyclops Report Systems Comparison Summary

9301-021

1. The sole advantage of lasers is that they permit narrow beamwidths to be realized with small transmitting mirrors, but this advantage turns into a disadvantage at the receiver where we need a large collecting area.

2.The collecting surface is much cheaper and more durable in the microwave region, because the tolerances are much greater and polished surfaces are not needed.

3.Microwave systems offer substantially more range for the same power, even with wider beamwidths.

4.Because of the wider beams, automatic positioning and tracking are feasible at microwaves on a dead reckoning basis.

5.Doppler shifts and drift rates are orders of magnitude less at microwave frequencies and can easily be compensated.

6.Microwave systems are all-weather systems.

 

Project Cyclops, revised edition, July 1973, Report CR 114445.