A Survey on Detection, Classification, and Tracking of UAVs using Radar and Communications Systems

TL;DR

This survey reviews RF-based detection, classification, and tracking methods for UAVs, highlighting challenges, system types, limitations, and future research directions for enhancing airspace security.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of RF-based UAV detection systems, comparing conventional and modern radars, communication systems, and RF analyzers, and discusses non-RF approaches.

Findings

RF-based systems are crucial for UAV detection and tracking.

Limitations exist in current radar and communication-based methods.

Future research should address system limitations and integrate multiple detection approaches.

Abstract

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for a variety of commercial, civilian, and defense applications has increased many folds in recent years. While UAVs are expected to transform future air operations, there are instances where they can be used for malicious purposes. In this context, the detection, classification, and tracking (DCT) of UAVs (DCT-U) for safety and surveillance of national air space is a challenging task when compared to DCT of manned aerial vehicles. In this survey, we discuss the threats and challenges from malicious UAVs and we subsequently study three radio frequency (RF)-based systems for DCT-U. These RF-based systems include radars, communication systems, and RF analyzers. Radar systems are further divided into conventional and modern radar systems, while communication systems can be used for joint communications and sensing (JC&S) in active mode and act as a source of illumination to passive radars for DCT-U. The limitations of the three RF-based systems are also provided. The survey briefly discusses non-RF systems for DCT-U and their limitations. Future directions based on the lessons learned are provided at the end of the survey.