The effect of wind farms on air defense radar has been a topic of strong concern in Europe. Several flight trials were conducted by the UK Royal Air Force in 2005 [EU1, EU2]. As a result of the trials, it was recommended that any wind farm that comes within the radar line of sight of an air defense radar, regardless of range, be closely examined. In the US, the potential impact of wind farms on the military was assessed in the 2006 Department of Defense report [US1]. Complementing the report were measurement data collection on a land based wind farm in Fenner, NY [US2] and corresponding electromagnetic simulations done using high-frequency ray tracing [US3, US4] in order to establish a database of wind turbine signatures. A number of flight trials on the ARSR-4 long-range surveillance radar have also been carried out by the Air Force 84th Radar Evaluation Squadron, with the most recent campaign reported in [US5, US6]. It was found that wind farms lead to reduced probability of detection and increased false targets. The impact of wind farms on the missile defense early warning radars were assessed in [US7]. No open literature was found on wind farm interference with airborne radars.
US.1
"The Effect of Windmills on Military Readiness"
United States Department of Defense Report to the Congressional Defense Committees
2006.
US.2
"Dynamic Radar Cross Section and Radar Doppler Measurements of Commercial General Electric Windmill Power Turbines"
B. M. Kent, K. C. Hill, A. Buterbauch, G. Zelinski, R. Hawley, L. Cravens, T. Van, C. Vogel,
and T. Coveyou,
IEEE Antennas Propagat. Mag., vol. 50, pp. 211-219
Apr. 2008.
US.3
"Dynamic Radar Cross Section and Radar Doppler Measurements of Commercial General Electric Windmill Power Turbines Part 2 - Predicted and Measured Doppler Signatures"
R. J. Vogt, T. D. Crum, W. Greenwood, E. J. Ciardi, and R. G. Guenther
B. M. Kent, A. Buterbaugh, K. C. Hill, G. Zelinski, R. Hawley, L. Cravens, T. Van, C. Vogel,
and T. Coveyou,
Proc. 2007 AMTA Symposium, St. Louis, MO
2007.
US.4
"Computational Electromagnetics (CEM) Prediction of a Windmill"
K. C. Hill, G. Zelinski, T. Van, and C. Vogel
2007 Electromagnetics Code Consortium Annual Meeting
May 2007
US.5
"Test Report for Evaluation of Wind Turbines Impact on Long-Range Radar Surveillance at King Mountain, Texas" (For Official Use Only)
Shawn Jordan, 84 RADES (84th Radar Evaluation Squadron), Hill Air Force Base
March 2008
US.6
"Special Technical Assessment of the Cumulative Impact of the Wind Turbines near the Oilton TX ARSR-4 Radar" (For Official Use Only)
84 RADES (84th Radar Evaluation Squadron), Hill Air Force Base
March 2012
US.7
"Wind Turbine Analysis for Cape Cod Air Force Station Early Warning Radar and Beale Air Force Base Upgraded Early Warning Radar"
Missile Defense Agency
Spring 2007
EU.1
"The Effects of Wind Turbine Farms on Air Defence Radars"
AWC/WAD/72/652/TRIALS, Air Warfare Center, Royal Air Force, UK
Jan. 2005
EU.2
"Further Evidence of the Effects of Wind Turbine Farms on AD Radar"
Air Warfare Center, Royal Air Force, UK
Aug. 12, 2005.