Is the FCR really able to reliably differentiate types of ground units?

[MRTX]

Ranging from janes longbow to the arma 3 Apache longbow mod, they all tought me that the FCR of the apache is able to differentiate between basic vehicle types (tracked, wheeled etc.) this capability sounds very reasonable and is probably achieved by a bunch of algorithms who were trained to find all the little details in the radar signature of different vehicles that set them apart. The only problem i have with this is that almost all "simulations" and games represent this capability with a 100% accuracy which i highly doubt represents the real life FCR in a realistic manner.

 

Although this information is probably pretty classified and also varries from block to block due to software improvements, does anybody have a rough idea on how good this FCR feature works on a day to day basis?

[NeedzWD40]

4 hours ago, MRTX said:

Although this information is probably pretty classified and also varries from block to block due to software improvements

 

You aren't going to get much more than the rough guesses already out there for the AH-64 and the APG-78 in particular. However, if you're looking for an overall view of mmW radars in general, from which you can get an idea of the APG-78 works, here's a few resources:

 

https://en.study-robot.jp/sensor/millimeter_wave_radar/

 

https://www.ti.com/lit/wp/spyy005a/spyy005a.pdf

 

https://blog.bliley.com/millimeter-wave-radar-advantages-and-challenges

 

How good the FCR works on a day to day basis? Answer is: Good enough that they've been kept in service for ~20 years and are still being sold. Plus, mmW radars in general are being utilized by a number of aircraft for sensor/targeting applications. If they were truly unreliable and useless, you wouldn't see widespread adoption of them.

[GGTharos]

5 hours ago, MRTX said:

Ranging from janes longbow to the arma 3 Apache longbow mod, they all tought me that the FCR of the apache is able to differentiate between basic vehicle types (tracked, wheeled etc.) this capability sounds very reasonable and is probably achieved by a bunch of algorithms who were trained to find all the little details in the radar signature of different vehicles that set them apart. The only problem i have with this is that almost all "simulations" and games represent this capability with a 100% accuracy which i highly doubt represents the real life FCR in a realistic manner.

 

Although this information is probably pretty classified and also varries from block to block due to software improvements, does anybody have a rough idea on how good this FCR feature works on a day to day basis?

 

Not really.   The classification algorithms can have problems with anything that causes obstruction - you would have to read up on various papers to see exactly what and how and why, but basically it isn't perfect, but it is serviceable.   As well, while it can give you a basic picture and classification, you can back this up with your visual instruments.