Monostatic Radar: if system has only one antenna for transmission and reception.
Multistatic Radar: if system has more than one transmission or reception antennae, at different positions.
The majority of radars are monostatic: the same antenna is used for transmission and reception, with a special microwave switch (Duplexer) isolating the receiver during transmission and the transmitter for the remaining time. A subclass of multistatic systems is the bistatic radar, with one transmitting and one receiving antenna, at different positions.
Considering the emission of radiation, radars are divided into active or passive.
Active systems include a transmitting antenna, exploiting signal reflections from potential targets, while they may be either monostatic (the usual case) or multistatic. Passive radars have only receiving antenna/-e and take advantage of the radiation that is already present in the environment, coming from non-cooperative transmitters. Such sources could be, for example, television, radio or mobile telephony broadcasts. Passive radars are multistatic, since the transmitting antenna is at a different position from the receiving antennae.
Comparison of Passive with Conventional Radar Systems:
1. It can provide covert detection - tracking.
2. It is highly likely to reveal stealth targets as it is based on low frequency broadcasts (compared to common air defence radars), while it is multistatic. Note that stealth aircraft have been designed to hide from conventional monostatic radars, mainly aircraft fire control radars, operating in the X-band (8-12 GHz).
3. It involves lower procurement and operating costs, as it does not have a transmitter, which has considerable power consumption, while it is usually based on a TWT - Traveling Wave Tube, with a high replacement cost.
4. It is very difficult to jam.
5. It cannot be targeted by anti-radiation weapons, such as the Raytheon AGM-88 HARM, or loitering munitions such as the IAI HARPY. Furthermore, without a transmitter, which would produce heat due to amplifying elements (either tubes or transistors),it will also exhibit low thermal signature, making it difficult to be targeted by IR systems.
6. It allows easy installation without any licensing, an important benefit in saturated areas, such as an airport, where there are many different emitters.
However, a passive radar also presents the following disadvantages - constraints:
1. It presents a certain algorithmic complexity and requires increased processing power.
2. Its effectiveness depends on the relative geometry and existing emissions.
3. It is necessary to deal with synchronization problems between the receivers.
4. There is particular difficulty in measuring the altitude of the target.
5. It depends on non-cooperative emitters.
6. The most important limitation is that it offers limited altitude coverage, because there is not enough radiation to be exploited at higher altitudes (above 10000 – 15000 ft) .