Editing Continuous-wave radar (section)

==Operation==
The main advantage of CW radar is that energy is not [[pulsed radar|pulsed]] so these are much simpler to manufacture and operate. They have no minimum or maximum range, although the broadcast power level imposes a practical limit on range. Continuous-wave radar maximize total power on a target because the transmitter is broadcasting continuously.

The military uses continuous-wave radar to guide [[semi-active radar homing]] (SARH) [[air-to-air missile]]s, such as the [[United States|U.S.]] [[AIM-7 Sparrow]] and the [[Standard missile]] family. The launch aircraft ''illuminates'' the target with a CW radar signal, and the missile homes in on the reflected [[radio waves]]. Since the missile is moving at high velocities relative to the aircraft, there is a strong Doppler shift. Most modern air combat radars, even [[Pulse-doppler radar|pulse Doppler]] sets, have a CW function for missile guidance purposes.

Maximum distance in a continuous-wave radar is determined by the overall bandwidth and transmitter power. This bandwidth is determined by two factors.
* Transmit energy density (watts per Hertz)
* Receiver filter size (bandwidth divided by the total number of filters)

Doubling transmit power increases distance performance by about 20%. Reducing the total FM transmit noise by half has the same effect.

[[Frequency domain]] receivers used for continuous-wave Doppler radar receivers are very different from conventional radar receivers. The receiver consists of a bank of filters, usually more than 100. The number of filters determines the maximum distance performance.

Doubling the number of receiver filters increases distance performance by about 20%. Maximum distance performance is achieved when receiver filter size is equal to the maximum FM noise riding on the transmit signal. Reducing receiver filter size below average amount of FM transmit noise will not improve range performance.

A CW radar is said to be ''matched'' when the receiver filter size matches the RMS bandwidth of the FM noise on the transmit signal.